“The Patriot” explores the people and events in the school’s past.
The school’s first president Ray Wanner left the priesthood and the school in 1968, and married Sister Phillip Mary, now Linda. She taught first, second, fifth, and seventh grade at St. Margaret’s. “I was the parish priest at St. Margaret’s before I went to John Carroll. We had worked together for over seven years, and now we’ve been married for 41,” said Wanner.
The late math department chair Jim Long created the mod schedule that the school still uses. “We thought it would give more flexibility in the school day, by being able to offer if not more subjects, at least subjects in different configurations. It was very innovative at the time,” said Wanner.
The women of the Class of ’75 had a gasoline-driven bonfire in the middle of the oval at the end of their last day of classes, burning their brown herringbone skirts, white shirts, yellow or brown sweaters, and brown blazers that would comprise the dress code for 30 years.
Suzan-Lori Parks, Class of ’81, won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for drama with the play “Top Dog, Underdog.” She was a “military kid. She doesn’t include John Carroll in her bio. She didn’t come here her freshman year,” said school archivist Joan Larney.
In 1986, a local radio station held a contest for high schools to win a concert with the popular 80’s band The Hooters. JC gathered the most votes in the area and the band came to school. Larney recalls, “[President Donald] Sudbrink was worried about security, but everything went so well.”
In 2002, former Notre Dame football coach and current ESPN analyst Lou Holtz spoke at school in honor of the building of the gym extension, a $2.6 million project. Holtz “spent the day, met with Patriot staff, met with football and cheerleading, walked the halls, and went to classes,” said Larney.
JC was a Blue Ribbon School in 1996, the only Catholic school in Maryland to receive the honor from the federal government. Student and faculty formed a human frame around a 40 by 37 foot picture of John Carroll, as a plane flew over and took an aerial picture.
School history will continue to be unveiled. According to Laura Lang, Director of Development and daughter of Larney, a time capsule was enclosed in glass in 1989 during the school’s 25th anniversary. In 2014, when the school celebrates its 50th year, the capsule will be opened.
Although the anecdotes change, the school remains very much the same. “You look at it and think ‘Oh my God, how times have changed,’ but in my experience, the kids are still nice, still eager to learn, and still have great passion,” said Larney.
Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected].