Messmer High School students help out at the Milwaukee school’s annual “Fat Tuesday — The Feast Before the Fast” event held March 4 at Mount Mary University. (Photo by Greta Taxis)
The Feast Before the Fast — Messmer High School’s Fat Tuesday fundraiser — brought together more than 150 supporters for a night of New Orleans-themed fare and Mardi Gras-infused fun at Mount Mary University’s Bergstrom Hall.
The event was also an opportunity for the community of the Milwaukee school to highlight its upcoming 100th anniversary and a new logo, say farewell to longtime school president Dr. Jim Piatt and a subsequent welcome to his successor, Dr. Richard Mannisto, and announce a new fundraising campaign.
“Messmer is not only alive, but it’s growing into our next century,” school Vice President of Missions and Advancement Erica Zdroik said, as enrollment is up 8 percent. “And we’re doing some great work.”
A new logo, inspired by the architecture of the school’s Gothic brick structure on Capitol Drive, was unveiled at the event, along with a new tagline: “Have faith, find purpose, be Messmer,” which Zdroik told attendees “reflects our commitment to educating ethical and faith-filled graduates who go on to build righteous and peaceful communities — which is something we all need.”
Some future graduates greeted and mingled with guests, and several discussed what it is to “be Messmer.”
Kayden Stingley Bell, 16, is a sophomore at the school who has aspirations to be a therapist or a math teacher — and if he becomes the latter, he wants to work at his alma mater. “I just really love Messmer,” he said.
Stingley Bell’s fellow sophomore, Mia Vincent, 15, shares his desire to help people in the field of psychology. It’s a goal that Vincent said has been shaped by her experience of the community at Messmer.
“Definitely my teachers influenced (my goals) the most because of the teaching style and the bonds we have with the teachers. It really makes you think deeper and farther than school,” she said. “It goes deeper than the paper or the work on the assignment. It makes me look at things from a real-world perspective.”
The development of that real-world perspective is reinforced by the school’s implementation of “WinterM,” a mini-semester every January that offers courses with content that is as useful as it is fun. Students can choose from classes like model-train building, piano, martial arts, basket weaving and even courses that will allow them to achieve certain levels of professional certification.
Wooden Wonders was one WinterM class that both Stingley Bell and Vincent took this year, producing the charcuterie boards, cornhole boards and crosses that were included in the raffle items at Feast Before the Fast.
“I’ve never worked with wood before, and it’s really just an accomplishment feeling I get when I see the products we made,” said Vincent, who also took drivers ed and earned her learner’s permit during this year’s WinterM.
WinterM also allows students the opportunity to recover credits in classes for which they received a failing grade — but the inducement of being able to take the “fun” classes has proven singularly effective in motivating students to ensure they pass their classes on the first try, said Director of Communication and Partnerships Lateff Alston.
During the evening’s program, Jim Schubilske, chair of Messmer High School’s Board of Directors, took to the stage to honor Dr. Jim Piatt, the school’s outgoing president. Schubilske hailed Dr. Piatt as a leader “through calm waters and stormy seas alike. He’s navigated the school with grace, wisdom and an unwavering commitment to the mission.”
Reflecting on his time at Messmer, which includes 17 years as president preceded by four years as a teacher, Piatt said, “I love Messmer — I feel it in my bones. Messmer is in the bones of Milwaukee. … (It) remains always a place of opportunity, a school where students rise to their potential and build a foundation for lifelong success and service and building communities of righteousness and peace.”
Dr. Piatt introduced his successor, Dr. Richard Mannisto, to announce news about the school’s upcoming centennial celebrations. The centenary will begin Thursday, Sept. 18, with 6 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob will preside.
Dr. Mannisto, who will start in his new role April 1, also announced a new fundraising campaign entitled “Messmer’s Moment to Shine.”
“We have been a shining example for 100 years, breaking barriers that no other school has done. And we’re going to continue to do that with transformative work because of you, our donors, our supporters, our alumni, into the next one hundred years,” said Dr. Mannisto. “Together we will have faith, find purpose and we will always be Messmer.”
