Spring Concert Caps Off Years of Duluth Catholic School Education

"Little people singing loudly and boldly" part of 140-year history.

There was a special concert and a big celebration Thursday in Duluth.

There was music echoing across the grounds, and hand motions driving home the lyrics on the Holy Rosary campus.

It was the spring concert for the Stella Maris Academy. The concert capped off the school year for children from kindergarten through sixth grade.

Family, alumni and friends enjoyed what was described as the “joy of little people singing loudly and boldly.”

Catholic education in Duluth goes back 140 years, and this year Holy Rosary was celebrating 100 years of Catholic education on its campus.

Carrying on that tradition brings with it a sense of responsibility.

“Special and it’s humbling too. A hundred years ago, Bishop McNicholas invited sisters from Illinois, the Dominican Sisters of Illinois to come up and start a new school,” said Andrew Hilliker, President of Stella Maris Academy.

“And you know, in real time did they think about the impact that they would have on generations of people? I don’t know. But I think about right now, we are called to be doing the same thing, in building Catholic education in this community. So, the impact we’re having right now will impact the next generation for 100 years.” said Hilliker.

The Academy said that when the Dominican Sisters arrived, they were to open a Catholic school and support the Catholic education work being done by another group of sisters–the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica.