Every week, Debra Brittenum visits Sister Thea Bowman’s grave at Elmwood Cemetery.
For Brittenum, a black Catholic, Bowman is an inspiration. The African-American nun who grew up in the South was considered a “servant of God” and could one day be canonized. She lived her faith with joy and worked for cultural awareness and racial harmony within the church.
She was also a loving and dedicated teacher.
So it’s only fitting that Bowman became the namesake of the new Sister Thea Bowman Montessori School of St. Patrick, located at St. Patrick Catholic Church in downtown Memphis and scheduled to open in 2025.
“She (Sister Thea Bowman) said, ‘I’m coming to my church fully functioning,'” explained Brittenum, who is a parishioner at St. Patrick and one of the school’s founding members. “That’s what we hope for our children as Catholic Christians and as Christians … that they will be self-actualized and know that they are fully functioning, and that they will come to their church and their faith and their education fully functioning.”
The school’s mission
St. Patrick received an $80,000 grant to open the school—but the school hopes to raise more money in the future—and plans to start with a class of about 15 children ages 3 to 6, and later expand to an elementary school.
At first glance, it may seem unusual for a class to include such diverse age groups. But it is a hallmark of Montessori education, which often includes self-directed activities, hands-on learning and collaborative play. You will also cover other topics.
“A lot of the things that older kids would be working on, so division, multiplication in the thousands, really big math problems and stuff like that,” said Marilyn Jenkins, the school’s lead teacher. “There are also simpler, hands-on activities. There are tasks for all ages. And the really nice thing about this mixed age group is that the six-year-old can teach the three-year-old. There’s that aspect of peer teaching and peer support.”
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The school is also rooted in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Christian religious education method which, like the Montessori method, often involves practical and self-directed activities.
However, the school aims to be a place where children of all cultures are respected. It plans not only to accept members of St. Patrick’s parish as students; it also wants to accept children from the poorer neighborhoods surrounding the school, which the school administration hopes to make affordable through low tuition fees and scholarships.
For the founders, this is a continuation of a long-standing tradition at St. Patrick’s, which has emphasized education and social justice for decades. And with the opening of the school, a long-standing dream of the community is coming true.
“A tremendous light”
For nearly 20 years, the Catholic Diocese of Memphis operated the Jubilee Schools, which offered low-cost private education in poor neighborhoods across the city. One of those schools was St. Patrick. But at the end of the 2018-19 school year, the Jubilee Schools closed.
And St. Patrick’s school building was underused.
Brittenum and other community members felt this was a disgrace. The space needed to be filled with something useful for the community, and the Montessori school was the answer.
Now the founders are excited to welcome students. And as they prepare the space, Sister Thea Bowman is close to their hearts. For Jenkins, there is a particular quote from the nun that exemplifies their mission:
“I think the difference between me and some other people is that I’m happy to do my little bit. Sometimes people think they have to do something big to make a difference. But if each of us lit a candle, we would have a huge light.”
