Ursuline celebrates 100 years

The school plans to launch a $4 million capital campaign in January.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was 100 years ago that the Ursuline Sisters made room in their convent on Rayen Avenue to open the Ursuline Academy, a school for girls.
On Sunday, Ursuline High School, successor to the academy, will mark its centennial with a Mass of Thanksgiving at 2 p.m. in St. Columba Cathedral, West Wood and Elm streets.
All graduates and friends of the school have been invited, and alumni, students and parents will have special roles in the liturgy as greeters, ushers, readers, musicians and more.
The centennial service is the first in a series of events scheduled throughout the school year to continue celebrating the milestone.
The school also will launch a $4 million capital campaign in January, seeking funds for future building renovations and scholarship endowment, said Carolyn L. Korenic, director of alumni and development.
The current building is in very good shape, so funds raised in the campaign will be used as improvements are needed, she said.
All diocesan priests have been invited to the centennial liturgy. The celebrants are: Monsignor Robert Siffrin, diocesan administrator; the Rev. Daniel M. Venglarik, pastor of St. Charles Church, Boardman; and the Rev. Richard Murphy, pastor of St. Mary Church in Mineral Ridge and associate principal at Ursuline.
Monsignor John P. Ashton, pastor of St. Lucy Parish in Campbell, will be the homilist.
After the Mass, there will be an open house and reception at the school from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tours will be offered, and a series of historical archive boards depicting the history of Ursuline will be unveiled.
Those boards will become a temporary traveling exhibit, visiting area churches, before being permanently installed in the high school cafeteria.
Time line highlights
Ursuline moved to its current location at 750 Wick Ave. in 1919, taking up residence in the Chauncey Andrews mansion.
It built its first new building in 1924 and added a second in 1955, connecting the new structure with the old one. Both are still in use.
Ursuline Academy changed its name to Ursuline High School in 1930, the same year that boys were admitted for the first time.
The Academy had just 25 girls as its first students, but enrollment swelled over the years, peaking at nearly 2,000 in 1968.
Enrollment today stands at 475 in grades nine through 12.
Additional centennial events include:
UChristmas on Campus featuring the school concert band and choir in December.
UA centennial dinner dance May 6, 2006, at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman.
UAn Ursuline musical production, "Broadway on Bryson," May 18-21, 2006, featuring scenes from musicals performed on the Ursuline stage.
UPublication of a centennial commemorative booklet and production of a commemorative video.
gwin@vindy.com