Ground is broken on ground for the gym at St. Cecilia on
Aug. 14, 1940.
Editor's note: As Hastings Catholic Schools celebrates 100 years, the Tribune looks at the schools' past, present and future. Today, in the first of three stories, we look at how Catholic education in Hastings was formed and progressed.
For 100 years, Catholics and non-Catholics alike have come together under the roofs of the Hastings Catholic Schools' buildings to give their children an education enriched with a religious foundation.
Some say it is the bond of faith and religious values that brings the St. Cecilia and St. Michael's communities together, not only on Sunday, but every day at school.
"I think the school has a moral foundation that I try to instill in my children, and the school just reinforces that," said Dan Sheehy of Hastings.
Sheehy comes from a family of Hastings Catholic Schools graduates, starting with his mother, Mary Helen Sheehy, who graduated from St. Cecilia High School in 1944.
The history goes back further than that, though, when Mary Helen's father, Frank Kealy, helped to design and build St. Cecilia Church in 1912.
"Back then in 1912, they didn't have computers and things that they do today. So it was up here and with slide rules," Dan said, tapping his skull. "He built the church, and, of course, the school is built around the church."
To read more, see Tuesday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
