$300,000 endowment at Immaculata School will honor legacy of religious sisters
HENDERSONVILLE — Recruiting and training Catholic educators in western North Carolina just became easier thanks to a $300,000 endowment gifted to Immaculata Catholic School by the estate of two formerly professed sisters of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Originally from Detroit, Sisters M. Johnice Cohen and M. Elizabeth Fowkes developed the “Bible, Life and Worship” series of religious education textbooks in the 1960s, were strong supporters of the religious arts, and founded the Pius XII Religious Education Center in Monroe, Mich. Proceeds from the sale of the textbook series made the endowment possible.
“The legacy left behind by the women will go to fund a program in which we recruit student teachers to come to Immaculata. We will be able to help form young educators and equip them to teach through the virtues of Christ,” said Margaret Beale, principal of Immaculata School. “This innovative program will provide more support for our students and a pipeline of Catholic educators coming to our area.”
Money from the endowment will provide a residential house for student teachers where education students looking for a student-teaching position in a Catholic elementary school can reside, at no cost to them, while doing their student teaching at Immaculata. The funds will also provide continuing education and a stipend to experienced teachers at Immaculata School who will mentor aspiring faculty through the student-teaching experience.
“One of the challenges we face with a small school in a smaller city is recruiting Catholic teachers to our area,” said Father Christian Cook, chaplain and pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish. “We hope that, if we give them a place to live at no cost, student teachers will be more likely to do their student teaching at Immaculata, and we hope that they will fall in love with our school and our city and apply for any open teaching positions at Immaculata when they graduate.”
Plans also include training in the Dominican Sisters’ Education in Virtue program and in the diocesan religious education program, Sophia Institute for Teachers.
The program’s “Spirit of Truth” textbook series covers the breadth of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a rich, age-appropriate way and has a strong focus on religious art, which complements the donors’ values.
The formerly professed sisters retired in Hendersonville and eventually started the Sunshine Arts Fund with the remaining proceeds from the sale of their textbooks, giving some of the funds away over the years. After both women passed away, the Sunshine Arts board members continued to maintain the nonprofit. As they too aged, the remaining board members decided to honor their memory by doing something that would reflect the religious sisters’ body of work and their commitment to religious education.
The Sisters M. Johnice Cohen and M. Elizabeth Fowkes Endowment Fund is the 15th endowment set up by individuals for either Immaculate Conception Parish or Immaculata School.
Jim Kelley, development director for the Diocese of Charlotte, said he is pleased to see people continue to leave legacies to what they value through the establishment of endowments in the diocesan foundation. He also noted that the parish and school’s planned-giving committee is the most active in the diocese.
“Their work has resulted in more than 125 people who are remembering either the parish or school in their estate plans,” Kelley said. “The parish and school have already received more than $1.2 million in distributions from those 15 endowments. These funds have changed the lives of many individuals.”
— Annie Ferguson
Grace perfects nature
The hard-working Our Lady of Grace varsity girls geared up for the 2023 Shamrock Tournament. The team won third place in the Renegar Tournament in November, pictured here with coaches (from left) Corbin Rusch, Annie Ferguson, Dennis Finnegan and David Foppe at Bishop McGuinness High School. (Photo provided by Our Lady of Grace School)As hundreds of families, including mine, prepared for this year’s Shamrock Basketball Tournament, I was reminded that “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” The expression certainly fits my experience with Catholic middle school basketball.
Founded in 1962 at St. Patrick School in Charlotte, the Shamrock Tournament is turning 60 this year. It’s been held every year since its inception except during the pandemic in 2021. This three-day showdown for seventh- and eighth-graders, boys and girls, has become a rite of passage for so many Catholic families, full of fun, friends and faith. I’m an assistant coach for the mighty Panthers, the varsity girls’ team at Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro. My daughter Mary plays shooting guard and forward on the team, so I’ve had the pleasure of watching her and her teammates grow in their skills and maturity over several years while cheering, comforting, and helping coach these girls as they arrive at this memorable moment.
I too played in the Shamrock Tournament – back in the mid-1990s. I was the center for Sacred Heart’s middle school team in Salisbury. My dad Art Reilly was the assistant coach. Sacred Heart’s teams were new then. In sixth grade, it was announced we’d be starting a basketball team for boys and a cheerleading squad for girls. “Hey, what about a girls’ team,” a few of us asked. So, with my friend Carmen’s mom as head coach and my dad as the assistant, we started one. We even had a say in choosing our mascot. Go, Dolphins! Our first games – and the Shamrock Tournament – were tough.
We steadily improved though and even won a Christmas tournament one year. Though the details are fuzzy, I do remember the fellowship and fun with friends and families, especially at the Shamrock Tournament. It’s a chance to spend the night in a big city surrounded by your best friends playing the game you love. As a young teen, it was hard to imagine anything more exciting.
This year, on Feb. 17-19, approximately 50 teams from Catholic schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia will compete in dozens of games.
For many eighth-graders, it’s the culmination of four years of playing together – a milestone as they prepare for high school, as they come of age.
PROUD OF OUR PANTHERS
Head Coach Dennis Finnegan gives advice on defending the post position.Our team at Our Lady of Grace is led by an extraordinary coach, Dennis Finnegan, who has shepherded both girls’ and boys’ teams there for 27 years. Mary and her fellow eighth-graders Marika, Serena and Olivia have been playing together since fifth grade. They are joined this year by a cadre of up-and-coming players ranging from sixth to eighth grade.
As an assistant coach, it has been awe-inspiring to watch them learn the game and develop their skills with each passing season.
I can still hear their squeals of delight during their first win on the Junior Varsity team and the more raucous cheers last year from the Our Lady of Grace stands when Olivia hit the winning shot in an emotional buzzer beater.
We began our current season with a Mass our entire team attended together. The faith runs deep among our volunteer coaching team of four, but it’s Assistant
Coach David Foppe who takes the spiritual mantle by encouraging and leading us in prayer and connecting the lessons of the court with the Catholic faith. He also arranges for team blessings by Father Casey Coleman, our pastor, whose spiritual guidance to us as individuals and as a team is immeasurable.
Naturally, he was pleased to see us sitting together for Mass that Sunday, a big group of middle school girls and their parents and coaches celebrating the Blessed Sacrament.
What better way to start a season than with the grace received from the source and summit of our faith?
We lost our first game but came back with three wins – placing third in the Renegar Tournament in Winston-Salem – the first such achievement for an OLG team in a long time.
As the season went on, we twice saw Serena – with her perfect layups – score 21 points in a game. Marika outran just about everyone with her remarkable athleticism, scoring key baskets. Mary grew in her court awareness, making beautiful assists to her teammates, and scored 14 points on her 14th birthday weekend. She has also learned to see the bigger picture and to persevere on the court and in prayer.
Olivia made basket after basket, scoring in double figures in multiple games and reached a personal best of 18 points in one game.
Still, there were many tough losses too. Just last weekend, the girls were in tears after a difficult loss in their conference tournament. To borrow from St. Thomas Aquinas – this is where grace begins to perfect nature. When we admit our weakness and dependence on God, we are receptive to grace and are thus strengthened.
Fortunately for us, there is an abundance of grace flowing at our Greensboro parish, thanks to our patroness and the frequent availability of the sacraments. Not to mention, we still had the Shamrock Tournament ahead of us – with its Big (middle school) League competition, hotel stay and meals out as a team.
THROUGH THE GENERATIONS
Coaches Dennis Finnegan and Annie Ferguson prepare the girls for the Shamrock Tournament. (Photos provided by Chris Ferguson)God has also given us the gift of Coach Finnegan, who has coached at Our Lady of Grace since 1996 when his children Lindsay, Lauren and Michael played. This was around the same time my dad was coaching my sister and me at Sacred Heart, so when we first met, it felt as though we had lived parallel lives. We’re all Irish to boot. Fittingly, my father and Dennis met for the first time last year at the Shamrock Tournament.
Though our mascot is the panther, Coach Finnegan is a lion-hearted man – fierce, tender, loyal and wise. He has coached two Shamrock Tournament Champion teams in 2001 and 2008. Coach Finnegan says he’s been blessed to work with so many wonderful student athletes and praised them for their kindness and respect even during moments of tough criticism.
“Why I was so lucky to have this opportunity only God knows,” he says.
Indeed, there’s a certain perfection to our team that no conference record (we’re fourth) or tournament results could improve or erase.
My years in middle school basketball and playing in the Shamrock Tournament with my dad as a coach seem to transcend time as it does for Coach Finnegan and his children. Much has changed, but we still laugh and talk about those days almost 30 years ago. Mary will move on soon, too, but no matter how much our lives change, we’ll always have Jesus – and basketball.
— Annie Ferguson is a member of the Catholic News Herald editorial team.
Shamrock at a glance
- Established: 1962 at St. Patrick School, Charlotte
- Founder: Kenneth “Joe” Mosca
- Host Schools: St. Patrick School (1962-2007), Holy Trinity Middle School (2008-2017), Charlotte Catholic High School (2018-present)
- Biggest Tournament: 93 teams, 10 venues
- 2023 Tournament: 50 teams, 6 venues
- States represented in 2023: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.
- More than basketball: Tournament Mass, cheerleading competition
Our Lady of Grace Panthers
- Coach: Dennis Finnegan (since 1996)
- Assistant Coaches: David Foppe, Corbin Rusch, Annie Ferguson
- Eighth-graders: Emmy, Marika, Mary, Olivia, Serena
- Seventh-graders: Amaia, Audrey, Charlotte, Gracie, Rilynn
- Sixth-graders: Danielle and Lilly
- Parish: Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro
- Pastor: Father Casey Coleman
- Favorite (Team) Food: Elizabeth’s Pizza (and zeppole) on Bridford Pkwy., Greensboro