50 years ago — June 7, 1963
Hawaii loved pope, mourns today
The world went into mourning on Monday upon the death of Pope John XXIII, the 260th successor of St. Peter. Hawaii also joined the world in expressing its great grief in having lost a true friend in the person of Pope John. The leaders of the State of Hawaii were most generous in their praise of him who in four short years rose from the obscurity of Venice to the prominence of the Holy See.
25 years ago — June 10, 1988
Enrollment drop has Catholic high schools cutting teacher lists
St. Louis School will have 15 fewer teachers this year than last year. It’s a situation that is unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.
Damien Memorial High School and St. Louis High School, the state’s two Catholic high schools for boys, have been forced to lay off a number of faculty — and staff, in Damien’s case — as a direct result of declining enrollment. Representatives of both schools say the lower numbers do not reflect a decline in the quality of education, but rather logistical realities involving an ever-smaller pool of school-age children in the community.
Barbara Traver of Damien’s development office told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that four faculty and two staff members, not including cafeteria workers, will not be returning to Damien in the fall.
10 years ago — June 6, 2003
Damien High to add a middle school in 2004
Starting with the 2004 school year, Damien Memorial High School in Kalihi will add an all-boys middle school. It will be the last of Hawaii’s seven Catholic high schools to add grades below 9.
According to Christian Brother Gregory O’Donnell, the school’s president, the school’s board of directors made the decision in response to the frequent request of alumni who wanted to send their sons to Damien earlier than the ninth grade.
He said the board of directors has been investigating the middle school option since 1999.
