Mount de Chantal Graduates Final Class
By LINDA COMINS Arts & Living Editor
POSTED: June 1, 2008
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“Bittersweet” was the word uttered most frequently to describe feelings on the emotion-filled day. “The closing of the Mount leaves a hole in the heart of the Wheeling community,” Herb Weaver of Bethany commented after he and his wife, Anita, watched their third daughter, Raven, graduate as the 2008 valedictorian. The Weavers’ two older daughters, Mikita and Anda, also are Mount graduates.
The eight remaining Sisters of the Visitation at Mount de Chantal have closed the school that eight earlier Sisters of the Visitation founded in 1848.
Eleven young women comprise the Mount’s final graduating class. Students in lower grades are transferring to other schools, and lay teachers and staff are seeking positions elsewhere.
Juniors, sophomores and freshmen have received commemorative replicas of the Mount diploma. Juniors also have the option of completing academy requirements for graduation at new schools or online to be awarded a Mount de Chantal diploma at a later date, academy officials said.
St. Clairsville resident Cathy Thomas, whose daughter, Jenna, is a junior, commented, “It’s just bittersweet because some of the juniors will not have a graduation.” Noting that juniors are being recognized at a ceremony today, she added, “They need that recognition and that closure.”
Herb Weaver reflected on “what an opportunity we had as a family to have three daughters to receive a superior education” at the Mount.
“It’s bittersweet,” he remarked. “It’s more sad that it can’t continue ... As I sit in these hallowed halls and think about what will end, it doesn’t seem there will be poetic judgment.”
“It’s a bittersweet ending,” other audience members said. Several recent graduates returned to join students to present musical selections at the commencement.
Offering the invocation, the Rev. Richard Skaggs, Mount teacher and assistant rector at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Wheeling, said, “In our minds, we are often confused as to how we should approach what is a beginning and what is an ending.” But, he said, “Both are one. Our perceived endings are just the refocusing of our lives into new beginnings ... We are created for eternity.”
Valedictorian Raven Weaver observed, “There are no beginnings without endings ... Today marks the end of an era ... 160 years of great education, tradition and memories.”
Special recognition was given to the Mount faculty, leadership team and staff. Sharon Campbell, head of school, told the audience, “It has long been the tradition at Mount de Chantal to save this day for special recognition of our most outstanding students and our seniors; however, as we bring our beloved academy to a close, it is fitting and proper that we also recognize those who have dedicated their careers to the education of your children.”
Faculty receiving awards for “exemplary education” were Sister Joanne Gonter, recognized for 49 years of teaching religion, philosophy and logic; Shirley Wilson, 27 years, science; Marti Westfall, 21 years, history; Skaggs, 21 years, English; Brian Hughes, 10 years, mathematics; Georgette Stock, nine years, art; Valery Staskey-Roeder, seven years, music; and Missy Bailey, 15 years as tennis coach. Plaques for outstanding achievement were presented to other faculty. Staff members were cited for service and dedication to the school.
Campbell thanked faculty, staff, students, parents and supporters of the academy. When the school’s impending closure was announced in January, “we all went through a variety of emotions ... Then we came together as a family, as a community. We passed through that and we found joy and celebration,” she said.
Gonter, superior of the Visitation order, expressed her gratitude to Campbell, saying that “she has helped us get through this with grace and dignity.” In a prepared statement, Gonter also said, “The providence and plan of God created Mount de Chantal Academy and is concluding that original mission now.”
