Reprinted with permission from the October 19, 2006 edition of the Ozaukee Press.
By Carol Pomeday
When Sister Margie Ann Thole, who teaches second grade at Port Catholic School's St. Mary's Campus in Port Washington, learned she was the only sister teaching in a Catholic school in Ozaukee County, she was surprised.
She lives alone in the former St. Mary's convent, which once was filled with sisters who taught at the school and now serves as the parish center. Thole said she feels the presence of those who came before her.
"There were 259 sisters who lived in that convent and gave 1,029 years of service," Thole said.
"So many times when I'm cleaning or cooking, I think of all the meals the sisters prepared and those who cleaned the steps and did the laundry. It's almost like they're all present. I don't feel alone because those walls are talking."
Thole is a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Elm Grove, which has 430 members in the Milwaukee province, many of them retired and elderly, and 21 associate members. The order is headquartered in Rome and has 4,000 members serving in 35 countries.
"Part of our mission is to prepare the places where we're working to continue doing what we're doing when we're not here because somebody has to carry on this ministry," Thole said. "We're getting fewer and fewer."
She sometimes takes students to the former convent and holds a prayer service in the chapel.
"I tell them a lot of sisters lived here in this old house, and I ask them for prayers for them," Thole said.
She once wore a habit to school for All Saints Day. Most students had no idea what it was.
Thole never wore the full habit. Her order switched to regular clothes before she took her final vows. She wore a white veil as a novice preparing for her vows.
"When I entered, I expected to wear it. It was nice when we changed," said Thole, who wears a pin that designates her as a member of her order.
Thole heard stories of nuns who were strict, broke rulers over students' hands and crumpled papers that weren't neat enough. That was not her experience growing up in Grand Haven and being taught by sisters there, Thole said.
"She couldn't be further from that stereotype," said Lee Kaschinska, Port Catholic principal. "She very much exemplifies the loving dimension of a parent. Students relate very well to her. She's very dedicated to making sure every child is successful to the best of their ability.
"She adds perspective and a dimension to the staff we wouldn't otherwise have. She does a lot to keep us aware of events and opportunities to put the tenets of our faith in action. Every year we have a theme and this year's theme is 'Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself' with the concept that our neighbors are everybody in the world."
Thole brings a global perspective to her classroom and the school through her contacts with sisters in her order who serve in Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru and other poor countries.
"I can come with this wider vision because of these connections," Thole said. "So we may gift a goat or chickens to a family in Venezuela or have penpals in Guatemala or raise money for a water project in Peru."
When the school got new reading books, the old books were given to Milwaukee Catholic schools and the order's resource center.
The students recently collected 116 winter coats for poor children and last year sent Christmas presents to children in New Orleans.
Thole has three rules in her classroom < Respect yourself, respect others and respect others' property.
Students are given two verbal warnings. If the problem continues, the student must write a letter to his or her parents. Thole calls parents only after a fourth incident.
"I've never had to go beyond two warnings," Thole said. "I believe in teaching children to be responsible for their behavior. There is a lot of freedom within limits. They know what is appropriate.
"If they hurt someone, I don't intervene. I tell them to talk about it between themselves and come to the understanding that one of them has to say, 'I'm sorry.' If they can't figure it out, then I'll intervene.
"It all comes back to respect. This whole world would be better if we respected each other."
On a rainy Monday, Thole asked students what they need to do on a cloudy day.
The answers included, "Put sunshine inside," "Be happy," "Be kind," "Put a smile on your face," "Don't get into other people's business," "Don't get into other people's space," "Use inside voices," "Help others" and "Share."
Thole said she doesn't want to be put on a pedestal or viewed as the authority when it comes to religion, but her colleagues said they count on her for that.
"There's very little doubt that we feel she has more expertise than us, so we always listen carefully to what she says < not that we don't disagree sometimes. We know she brings more background to this than the rest of us.
We've all had many hours of religious training, but it's not the same as the lifetime she's devoted to it," Kaschinska said.
Children in second grade receive two sacraments for the first time - reconciliation and First Eucharist.
"It's very difficult to teach the concept of reconciliation to second-graders," said Laura Anderson, who also teaches second-grade. "Sister Margie Ann has a way to reach them so they understand the meaning behind the sacraments, and, in turn, she helps me understand it and better prepare the students."
Thole said preparing for First Communion is one reason she likes teaching second grade.
"I really enjoy preparing them for Eucharist. If I can bring them to Jesus and let them experience Jesus as a friend and teacher, then, hopefully, they will carry that into adulthood," she said.
Thole said the sisters who taught her in Grand Haven inspired her to join their order. Her father was the janitor and her mother was the cook at the small Catholic school that had three classrooms and three grades in each room.
Thole wanted to enter the order after eighth grade, but her parents couldn't afford it, so she waited until graduating from high school.
"Now, I'm glad I didn't go in earlier," she said. "I had four years in high school and entered into the social life and dated. I had fun like everyone else, but I never wavered in my desire. I know some of our sisters never had that socializing experience and wonder if they missed something."
When it was time to take her final vows, Thole said, she had some doubts so she waited another year.
Although she is often called a nun, Thole corrects people, explaining nuns are cloistered in a convent, have little contact with the outside world and devote their lives to prayer.
Thole enjoys teaching. After getting her degree from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, her first job was teaching 56 first-graders in a West Allis school.
She taught for eight years in a modified British primary school in DePere that had an English headmaster. There were three grades in each classroom and students helped each other as they worked at their own pace.
Thole lived with 10 sisters in DePere and four sisters when she taught in West Bend, but by the time she left there she was living alone in an apartment. She moved to Port Washington 11 years ago to teach at Port Catholic and live with Sister Jean Hasenberg, principal of Immaculate Conception School in Saukville. Hasenberg became ill two years later and moved to Elm Grove.
Although she lives by herself, Thole, who would not reveal her age, said she doesn't feel alone and stays connected with her religious community by phone, e-mail and regular prayer and study groups.
The money she and other sisters earn supports the older sisters who in turn pray for them.
"I feel very supported by those sisters," Thole said. "I know there are times I can do things because I have this praying ministry behind me."
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