Comedy and Cuisine

St. Cecilia’s enrollment exceeds 1,900 in 1959 - and there seems to be no end to he student boom. The parish is growing too; the rectory is demolished in 1963 to make way for a new rectory and office complex.

A World-Herald photo from 1962 features 11 sets of twins enrolled in the school. St. Cecilia’s dispatches school buses each day to surrounding neighborhoods. Its educational program is the largest in the archdiocese.

But the size of its schools isn’t the only thing that sets St. Cecilia’s apart. It also is recognized for providing a quality education, complete with cutting edge technology. It is the first school - "independent or tax supported," a news story notes - to fully equip its typing classes with electric
typewriters. This is a hallmark of St. Cecilia’s education: separating the wheat from the chaff in educational and societal trends.

“When it comes to tried and true methodologies, they stick,” said Father Greg Baxter, a graduate of St. Cecilia’s who became a priest of the Omaha Archdiocese. “Experimenting and fads aren’t part of the program. Yet enhancements are added into the program when appropriate. When something good comes along, they are willing to incorporate it.”

On the football field in the 1960s, St. Cecilia’s is a force. "Wonder of Wonders!" a nun writes on Nov. 4, 1965. "Sister Manuila brought a message from Mother Benedicata which was — ‘The sisters have permission to attend the Homecoming football game at Benson Park.’ Monsignor Graham arranges a bus for the sisters, and the outing proves successful. "Our undefeated team won the game," the sister notes.

Not long after, the sisters hold a private Thanksgiving dinner, capped off with a "delightful" skit put on by several sisters — "Teaching Singing to Sophomores." The reviewer’s relish makes it clear this is not an entirely flattering portrayal of the 10th graders. The sisters express more hope for their younger vocal students. The 137 children who take first communion in November 1965 sing their hymns "with vim and vigor. If they continue to produce such volume," a sister writes, "the singing should also improve within a few years."