School Crest & History
school crest
Design and rationale for a crest: The crest follows an ancient tradition of heraldry. Family crests were often used to quickly identify the position and members of a particular family. Our school established in 1900 is steeped in over a century of academic presence and education to the community. The crest will quickly identify a student of Saint Mary’s School O’Neill, NE, as a member of our school family. The crest consists of a shield divided into three sections, a crown, and a banner. Mr. Justin Podany (SMH alumnus, 2007) rendered the graphic art.
Three Symbols of the Shield: The symbols in the shield of the school crest have been selected to represent the local and religious symbols of our school. Starting in the upper left, we have the universal symbol for the Franciscan order: the Tau cross with the wounded hands. The Franciscan Sisters of Charity and Penance first taught in the Academy upon its founding in 1900. The local symbol is the shamrock in the upper right. A shamrock marks the site of the Irish capital of Nebraska. The bottom portion of the shield is filled with student Bryce Heiser’s design of the new cardinal mascot, to which was added the distinguishing Marion character, a gold holy aura and halo wrapped around it to also read as the capital letter “C” for Cardinals.
Banner: Surrounding the shield is a banner with the motto for the school. The Latin motto echoes the words of Mary at the visitation: Magnificat anima mea Dominum = “My soul magnifies the Lord.” In this case, the words have been adjusted to become a collective saying and goal for all of the students and teachers: Magnificet anima mea Dominum = “May my soul magnify the Lord.” With one letter changed from “a” to “e” in the Latin verb magnificare we express a theological precision that is worth explaining. Because of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and fullness of grace, she can rightly and fully declare in the indicative, present tense form (magnificat), that her soul magnifies the Lord. By changing the verb to the subjunctive, present tense form (magnificet), we understand our need for purification and assistance in magnifying the Lord. All of our efforts are conditioned by our reception of God’s grace; therefore we use the conditional phrase: “May my soul magnify the Lord.”
Crown: The banner is topped with a crown for Mary. The crown is meant to match the style of crown that is found on our icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the patroness of our school and parish.
St. Mary's History
To achieve excellence in education is a constant challenge demanding new effort. Already in 1896, during the first recorded conversation regarding St. Mary's School between Monsignor Michael Francis Cassidy and the Sisters of St. Francis, he expressed a basic condition for the school he envisioned in O'Neill: "That it be a good school."
Sisters of St. Francis
The Sisters of St. Francis from Stella Niagara, New York (presently, the sisters of St. Francis from Marycrest, Denver, Colorado) came to O'Neill in 1900 to begin the school "with a cross upon it, and it began to thrive and grow." Inspired by faith, a traditon of excellence was established and continued, upheld by the parents who sent their children as well as by many generous benefactors and supporters.
Teachers and students came and went; times changed. In 1978 there were two modern school buildings in spite of two historic fires. Recognition of quality education came as early as 1908 from the Nebraska State Department of Education and in 1950 from the North Central Association for Accreditation of Schools. An IGE (Individually Guided Education) Program had been initiated, and the school was recognized by membership in IDEA (Institute for Development of Educational Activities). This endeavor to improve elementary and secondary education was commended by both the Nebraska State Department of Education and North Central Association. St. Mary's was awarded the national Exemplary Schools Award in 1988.
Each year the graduates have parents and grandparents who graduated from St. Mary's, perhaps an indication that an excellent Catholic education is the most prized to be handed on to the next generation in the succeeding 100 years.
