Reprinted with permission of The Stamford Advocate...

Lessons learned at Sacred Heart last a lifetime

By Erin Walsh

Polyester Flashbacks

Since the moment I heard that Sacred Heart Academy is closing, I have been thinking back to the time when an awkward girl in polyester walked into school barely prepared for high school - and left a slightly less awkward young lady in a white gown, prepared for college.

Like most SHA freshmen, I didn't want to go at first. Nope.

"But, Mom and Dad, there are no boys!"

Deep down, I knew that Stamford High School was too big for me. But Sacred Heart Academy?

I am very glad that my parents were able to tune out the ramblings of a preteen. The education I received was more than facts, dates and religion. We were taught respect for ourselves, for others, for the faculty and, you better believe it, for the sisters.

Maybe most important, we were taught how to learn and how to enjoy learning. The social atmosphere was such that it was OK to raise your hand, socially acceptable to know the answer and, yes, OK to get it wrong (although you would want to be more careful in Sister Rose's class.)

Many teachers have popped in and out of my memory while I have been traveling back in time. There was Miss O'Doherty, an English teacher who fancied herself the modern-day Wife of Bath from the "Canterbury Tales." I feel for people who study the "Canterbury Tales" without the Wife in the room.

And there was our gym teacher, Miss Lorenzet. If I was awkward walking in, you should have seen me on the basketball court. However, I was instilled with a belief in my abilities and learned to have fun and try my best.

Our principal was Sister Mary Kelly. She was tough and fair - not an easy combination, but it worked for her.

Sister Mary Rose Booth taught science and you couldn't help but learn it.

Miss Marion, as the name implies, was a former librarian who taught English. Her research lessons may bear some responsibility or fault for my current profession.

Dr. Puglisi taught us about life while we dissected dead pigs and frogs. Somehow, with her help, I got through Advanced Placement biology.

The late Sister Francis Dolores taught me Latin about 20 years after she taught my aunt. Same lessons, same sister.

Sister Delores and Sister Linda were great teachers and the "coolest" nuns I ever knew. They understood what it meant to be a teenager and that helped.

While recent events have found my memory to be failing, I can't forget the barn theater, where some of my life's most humiliating moments have taken place during "Musical Showcase."  I am not exaggerating or being overdramatic. I have witnesses who can confirm it but aren't allowed to discuss specifics.

At times like these we tend to remember only the good things. Somewhere in my memory are the physics tests, Latin verb conjugations, the long assemblies, traipsing to school on winter days when the rest of the world was canceled and the uniforms - oh dear, the uniforms (your choice of itchy wool, blue polyester or the fashionable blue khaki.) OK, some things I do remember.

What I will keep with me is memories of the place - a beautiful building - where I grew up and the teachers and the students who helped me along the way.

Erin Walsh (Sacred Heart Academy Class of 1986) is The Advocate's librarian.

[Pictured above are (back L-R) Marion Peacock, Erin Walsh, Patricia Golohan, Hope Goshea, (front) Katrina Eder, Susie Deluca]