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Celebrating Sister Helen Jean Novy, HM
By Teresa Messmore, Director of Communications
Teacher, scholar, author, innovator, leader. For half a century, Vice President of Mission Emerita Sister Helen Jean Novy, HM, has fulfilled many roles at Magnificat and embodied the school’s Mission and Values while strategically enhancing the curriculum, faith formation programs, and learning environment. The 2024-2025 school year marks her 50th year of service to Magnificat— and her 60th year in teaching, her 65th year as a Sister of the Humility of Mary, and her 85th birthday—in what has been a remarkable and distinguished career.
“No one is quite like Sister Helen Jean,” President Moira Clark ’77 said. “Her warmth, intellect, and spirituality naturally draw students, colleagues, and alumnae to her, and the relationships formed paired with her unwavering commitment to Magnificat have strengthened our school community for decades.”
Born and raised in Cleveland, Helen Mary Jean Novy was the only child of Frank and Helen Novy and grew up playing with friends and cousins in her Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Her family frequently visited her grandparents’ farm in Vermilion, where she developed a deep appreciation for God’s creation as she enjoyed hiking, driving tractors, fishing, and riding her horse, Silver. She attended Blessed Sacrament Parish School and was taught by Sisters of the Humility of Mary for seven of her eight elementary school years.
“I very much admired the Sisters for their manifest love of God as well as their willingness to engage in fun and adventure, for example trying out the rides at Euclid Beach Park,” she said.
During the summer, she would talk to God as she walked alone to daily Mass, and by 6th grade she had decided to become a religious sister. She enrolled at Villa Maria High School in Pennsylvania, where the Villa Maria Community Center is today, and after graduating she studied Latin at John Carroll University and spent a fall semester at Ursuline College before entering the HM Community on Jan. 11, 1959.
As a novice, Sister Helen Jean learned about the HM Sisters’ ministries, prayer practices, and spiritual devotions. She and her fellow novices spent much of their time in silence, but they sang together during Chapel and feast day celebrations and bonded while attending to various chores. She fondly remembers being asked to teach a class about the Psalms, which she has continued studying ever since.
Sister Helen Jean went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English from Notre Dame College in 1964 and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1973. Her first student teaching and teaching positions were at Magnificat, where she taught Latin and English.
“The first year I taught here, while we were in habits, I think there were 39 nuns,” she recalled. “Between every class, the teachers stood in the middle aisle of the halls and the students changed classes in silence—so different from today.”
In various assignments teaching theology, English, drama, Latin, and math from 1964 to 1980, Sister Helen Jean worked at Magnificat, St. John High School in Ashtabula, Ohio, and Central Catholic High School in Canton, Ohio, for all of which she holds fond memories.
In 1981, Magnificat became her permanent teaching post, and her steady presence has provided valuable institutional knowledge while also championing humility and lifelong learning as the school changed with the times. In the 1980s, for example, she led the charge to introduce computers into the curriculum and taught students how to use the new technology in her class “Micro Magic: Computers for Non-Math Uses,” in which students programmed in BASIC. She also worked in NASA’s Education Department for two summers and co-wrote Labtop Book for Writing in Science.
“It was about being attuned to the psychological needs of the students, the spiritual needs, the academic needs, the physical needs, the social and the emotional needs,” she said about her approach to teaching and curriculum development. “It’s being attuned to all of that and evolving accordingly.”
Sister Helen Jean became the Chair of the English Department and then served in a curriculum director role for many years. Her natural networking skills helped bring notable speakers to campus including theologian Elizabeth A. Johnson and Pulitzer Prize winning author Anthony Doerr. By 2009, she was appointed to the role of Vice President of Mission as a member of the leadership team under former President Sister Carol Anne Smith, HM, and she went on to serve as Interim President in 2015.
“In her own unique and precious style, Sister Helen Jean exemplifies the spirit and mission of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary,” Sister Carol Anne Smith said. “We, her Sisters in Community, honor her and her unparalleled contributions to our beloved Magnificat High School. The countless lives she has touched stand as her legacy of love, education, and generous service.”
One of Sister Helen Jean’s most significant accomplishments at Magnificat was her development of Surround Learning, the concept that everything in the physical environment creates opportunities for learning. Magnificat’s outdoor Grotto, for example, could be just as effective for learning as a traditional classroom setting or lab. The Surround Learning initiative was the impetus for a capital campaign to enhance the Marian Commons and the library, now the Humility of Mary Center, and Sister Helen Jean was involved in forging Magnificat’s ongoing partnership with Fielding International.
Sister initiated the concept of a cross-curricular experience of “The Review of the Century,” which involved three assemblies in 1999: The Launch with a pictorial and musical review of the century; a Veterans Assembly honoring those who served; and a Peace Prayer Assembly as a prelude to letter writing by all students and adults to their counterparts in the future, to be opened in 2050. This “time capsule” includes the letters along with a uniform, Student Handbook, yearbook, and scrapbooks of each class.
Humbled by the Holy Spirit’s faithful guidance, Sister Helen Jean regularly composes prayers and blessings for school events and activities. She is the author of three books: Prayers and Reflections for the Magnificat Community (2012), Days of Grace: 365 Prayers (2016), and A Bouquet of Mary Prayers (2018). She also writes The Daily Prayer, an email newsletter with original prayers sent to more than 4,300 subscribers every day.
In 2020, Sister transitioned to a part-time role as Vice President of Mission Emerita. She writes to recently graduated alumnae, advises faculty and staff on academic and theological matters, co-leads the Advent and Lenten Retreats, and partners closely with Vice President of Mission Katie Higgins ’99, among other responsibilities.
“Sister Helen Jean embodies Magnificat’s Mission and Values so joyfully and vibrantly!” Higgins said. “Her enthusiasm for our students, her deep faith and compassionate care for others, her innovative thinking, and her love of learning continue to make a profound impact on Magnificat and so many members of our community from generation to generation.”
She is a guest teacher in theology classes, regularly walks the halls to chat with students, and challenges colleagues and students alike to read and think critically, drawing on her expansive knowledge of literature, theology, science, and current events. A regular fixture at sporting events, concerts, exhibits, and musicals, her indefatigable spirit not only encourages students but also provides a visible connection to Magnificat’s HM legacy.
“She is always incredibly kind and knowledgeable, and I see her spreading joy and God wherever she goes,” Tori Smith ’25 said. “She inspires me to be as kind as she is and to be a good role model and example for others in a faith-filled life, even if I am not a Sister.”
The entire student body will celebrate Sister’s 85th birthday with her in January, and a planning committee has additional celebratory activities planned throughout the year. Alumnae and friends are invited to send their well wishes before her retirement in June by emailing srhjnovy@maghs.org.
“Magnificat is all about the students, and once they are here, they are part of the community forever,” Sister said, reflecting on her time at Magnificat. “I admire the deep commitment of the parents to their daughters and to Magnificat education. I appreciate the expertise of our strong board, dedicated to forwarding the Mission and the institution. I admire the faculty and staff’s extraordinary contributions to the holistic education of the girls and the administration’s conviction of the invaluable importance of our Mission and Values as the guiding light for the whole endeavor. What a privilege, and what a responsibility to educate our young women to be leaders in family, church, and world!”
Sister Helen Jean Novy, HM, and Brother Mickey McGrath, who Sister commissioned to create this painting of Mary; Sister Helen Jean in her early days at Magnificat and as a child with a friend.
