Sister Michael Marie Friedman: “…I think it is a challenge every day.”

Sister Michael Marie stops to talk with primary building secretary Gail Ashlock.

Middle School secretary Carolyn Peak also has words of praise for the St. James principal. Says Carolyn, “Personally, Sister Michael Marie has been very supportive of me. I lost both my parents this past year. She has been very helpful.” She continued, “Professionally, she is very fair. She always keeps the good of the school foremost in her decision making. And the kids respect her leadership. We see many of them come back years later to thank her for supporting them during their years at St. James.”

Sister Michael Marie is the undisputed number one St. James fan. As Marc Oropilla pointed out, she’s a big supporter of the basketball teams, but she’s just as big a supporter of the cross country team, the Book Bee, Whiz Kids, and Governor’s Cup. If it’s a St. James student competing, she is there leading the cheers.

Sister Michael Marie conducting a monthly faculty meeting at St. James.

The Governor’s Cup competition began in late January and the St. James youths dominated the district, much to Sister Michael Marie’s delight. “We finished first in Quick Recall and second in Future Problem Solving,” she reported with pride in her voice, “and 12 of our students placed in various written assessment areas. All will move on to regional competition at Radcliff.”

Sister Michael Marie is thrilled with the success of the St. James academic teams and equally thrilled with that of the athletic teams. She’ll gladly accept the trophies and place them in the school trophy case. But she doesn’t hesitate to say, “As a regional school, the main purpose for our existence is spreading the Catholic faith with our students and their families. If we don’t have that, no matter how excellent we are in our secular subjects, we haven’t achieved our purpose.”