Ursuline takes pride in green

A school's surroundings are vital to teaching youth responsibility and caring, the associate principal said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ursuline High School's campus is much like an island.
The school is surrounded by an empty university building, a rebuilding Wick Park neighborhood and a desperate Wick Avenue business strip.
There is a reason, however, that the many drivers who pass the school's frontage on Wick Avenue see something else.
Newer evergreen trees, attractive fencing, green grass and other landscaping covers the slope below.
A tradition of putting time, talent and money into a well-maintained setting goes back at least 50 years, said the Rev. Richard Murphy, Ursuline's associate principal. It's a philosophy Father Murphy -- a '72 Ursuline grad -- has embraced and promoted during his 15 years there.
Lessons: Valuing surroundings is vital to teaching youth responsibility and caring for the community, he said. That goes for public or Catholic schools, he added.
That's why Ursuline has spent tens of thousands of dollars the past couple years improving how the campus looks.
"That has to be reflected in the environment that our young people learn in," Father Murphy said. "We think they have to go together, the outside and the inside."
Catholic leaders of the past made aesthetics a priority. They have ingrained that sense of importance in those that came after them, he said.
That perspective extends even to clean cafeterias and lockers in the school. The older section of the building, circa 1925, looks remarkably good for its age.
Catholic schools also were among the first to embrace recycling in the early 1980s, Father Murphy said.
"These small lessons are reinforcement of lessons at home," he said.
Other improvements: Besides the Wick Avenue improvements done a few years ago, two wings of classrooms now overlook a meditation garden behind the school. The garden of flowers, trees, bushes and fountains draws attention to a campus otherwise surrounded by concrete.
"It's an important source of pride for our students. They notice," said Carolyn Korenic, the school's director of alumni and development. "It adds to the overall ambiance."
The outside work doesn't include $500,000 raised to build a 300-seat theater in 1999. The addition blends seamlessly into the original building.
A major fund-raising campaign that will be part of the school's 2005 centennial celebration will continue the aesthetic tradition.
The campaign will address the school grounds, Father Murphy said, though he declined to reveal details.
He did say the school hopes to be central to the neighborhood's rebound.
For example, there is excitement about Youngstown State University possibly putting its student recreation center where the vacant building stands behind Ursuline.
Ursuline also wants to be part of the Wick Park area resurgence and a link to bringing back the string of empty car lots along Wick Avenue.
"That's a profoundly important area for the city," Father Murphy said.
rgsmith@vindy.com