Oesterle Celebrates 20 Years At Walsingham

By Amber Lester Kennedy Thursday, October 21, 2010

 

On Wednesday morning, Sister Mary Jeanne Oesterle confessed she was embarrassed. An hour later, the Walsingham Academy president told an audience she was overwhelmed.

Parents, alumni and more than 600 students crowded into Macauley Hall in the Upper School of Walsingham on Wednesday to honor Oesterle’s 20 years with the school. Oesterle joined the staff as principal of the Lower School in 1990 and became president of the private Catholic school in 2003.

Although she had tried to downplay her anniversary, parents and staff coordinated a half-hour ceremony to recognize her achievement. While she expected that occasion, she did not know another surprise awaited her; former Walsingham student and WTKR Channel 3 anchor Juliet Bickford was on hand to present Oesterle with a certificate deeming her one of Channel 3’s “People Taking Action.”

Bickford shared her memory of sitting in a similar assembly on the first day of seventh grade when the school met its new principal. “She was tough,” she said of Oesterle. “But when we were in trouble, we knew she was just right.” She said she credits some of her success to Oesterle, who knew how to make students feel special.

A shocked Oesterle went to the podium to receive her certificate and a commemorative pin, saying, “I’m overwhelmed and I truly am humbled.”

During the 30-minute ceremony, speakers spoke of Oesterle’s strong leadership and faith. David Julien, chairman of the Board of Trustees, shared a story about his first experience with Oesterle’s tough love style of leadership. During his son’s first week of school, he was charged with navigating the after-school traffic to pick his child up from the Lower School. Despite his wife’s careful instructions, Julien admitted he didn’t listen clearly and was overwhelmed when he arrived to find gridlock. He picked up his cell phone, dialed his wife and begged her to talk him through the car line. As he pulled up to the school, cell phone still at his ear, he realized Oesterle was giving him “the look.”

“Let me tell you, it’s effective,” he told the crowd, who laughed and applauded in response. He said a few weeks later, he learned why Oesterle was upset he was talking on his cell phone in the car line.

“It wasn’t just because she was concerned about my driving, or the safety of the children…she was concerned that after a long day at school, children deserve undivided attention when they get in the car,” he said, going on to say that it taught him how she makes her decisions. “She makes them with love and putting you first.”

Her true legacy to the school, he said, are the approximately 75 students who graduate each year. He said she isn’t proud because they are the best students, athletes or actors in the state; she is proud because she’s turning out “some of the best people in the state.”

Oesterle told the audience there has been no greater gift in her life than the time she’s spent at Walsingham. And even if she’s not at the school for another 20 years, she said, “The car line will still be the car line whether I’m here or not.”

Oesterle leads the school as a member of the Sisters of Mercy, who established the school in 1947. The Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women who have vowed to devote their lives to service; the organization runs schools around the world. In her honor, the school has created the Sister Mary Jeanne Oesterle Endowment Fund for Student Excellence this year. Gifts to the endowment will help provide financial stability to the school; it will also be supported through a 10 percent contribution from other fundraising events. To learn more, click here.