SCHOOLS

From Page One

Now a cornerstone of Catholic secondary education in the Birmingham area, John Carroll was the brainchild of Thomas J. Toolen, the archbishop of the Mobile Diocese, which included Birmingham at the time.

Catholic elementary schools already had been established in the area, and some taught students through grade 12. But Toolen, a strong booster of Catholic schools, wanted a central high school for the area’s Catholic teens. The elementary schools that taught high schoolers were crowded, according to newspaper accounts of the time.

In March 1942, Toolen was the guest of honor at a testimonial dinner at the Tutwiler Hotel where plans for the new high school were outlined. By the end of the month, fundraising pledges from 17 Birmingham parishes to build the new school had surpassed the $150,000 fundraising goal by almost $26,000, for a total of $175,931, or $3.2 million in today’s dollars.

Estimated construction costs rose through the years – by this time the U.S. was fighting in World War II – so that by the time construction actually began in late 1946, the estimated total cost had risen to $750,000.

Fundraising continued, spearheaded by the Friends of Catholic Education, which was organized early on by Birmingham businessman John Carroll to help raise the money to build what was then called Central Catholic High School.

In 1946 the first Toy Bowl, an annual fundraising football game featuring players from Birmingham’s Catholic elementary schools, drew 30,000 to Legion Field amid much fanfare. Frank Thomas, then coach at the University of Alabama, and Frank Leahy, coach at Notre Dame, coached the teams at the inaugural game.

News reports at the time noted organizers had hoped to get Frank Sinatra or movie star Pat O’Brien, or both, for the first game. O’Brien, who played legendary Fighting Irish coach Knute Rockne on film, turned up to serve as master of ceremonies.

Daniel Construction Co. was awarded a $350,000 contract to build the school on Highland Avenue between 23rd Street and Milner Crescent and work began in November 1946.

By the time the school was ready to open with 278 students in 1947, fundraiser leader John Carroll had died, so the school was named in his honor.

It was the second Catholic high school to open in Birmingham that’s still in existence – Ensley’s Holy Family High School opened four years earlier, in 1943, but it was limited to Black students at that time in the Jim Crow South.

Until it moved to its Lakeshore campus in 1992, the school underwent a number of changes. Among these were construction of the Bishop Toolen Center, which opened in 1951, a new school cafeteria finished in 1957 and the east wing, which was completed in 1958. In the early 1960s, an athletic complex was built on Montclair Road and in 1964 a new convent for the Benedictine Sisters who taught at John Carroll was dedicated.

Integrating the School

1964 marked another milestone for the school, one that coincided with the Civil Rights Movement, as John Carroll was integrated that September.

Robert C. Smith, ‘66, Madeliene Humphrey, ‘66, Fred Tyson, ‘67, and Diane Tucker, ‘67, transferred from Immaculata High School (as part of Our Lady of Fatima Parish) as the first Black students in the school’s history, according to a school timeline on John Carroll’s website. This was as a result of the cooperative efforts of Immaculata’s principal, the Rev. Eugene Farrell, and John Carroll’s principal, Monsignor William R. Houck.

Janice Mabee Ransom of Pelham, ‘66, vividly remembers that time.

“The first day of school was intense. The police were all there in case the crazies came out,” she recalled.

John Carroll grew more diverse over the years, Mike Boutin, ’73, the school’s director of alumni relations, said.

“We are more diverse in community, race, ethnicity,” Bouton said. “We take pride in that.”

Newspaper stories from the late 1950s and 1960s also highlighted interesting facets of school life, such as the Birmingham PostHerald’s Teacher of the Week story published on Nov. 11, 1957, that paid tribute to John Carroll’s Sister Maurus, a French and religion teacher who introduced square dancing to the students.

“When the strains of good old country-style music float through the halls, you can bet Sister Maurus is right there in the middle,” the story said.

In 1967 John Carroll parents donated 1,500 of their trading stamp books saved over 18 months to go toward the cost of a new school bus. The trading stamps, usually given to supermarket shoppers based on the amount they spent, covered fivesevenths of the price of a new bus, according to a Feb. 13 story in the Birmingham News. The PTA arranged for cash to pay the balance on the bus, the story said.

The school moved from tight quarters on Highland Avenue on Birmingham’s Southside to a spacious campus off Lakeshore Drive in the Oxmoor Valley in 1992.

“The whole Catholic community was abuzz because it was brand new,” said Lee Ann Heaton Fuller of Pelham, a John Carroll teacher who graduated in 1997.

FAMILY TRADITION: Top, from left, Students Kendrick McMillan and Eli McMillan, school secretary Lynda Hayes, students Sienna Massa, Anna Grace Fuller, and Amelia Massa, and guidance counselor Ginny McMillan and teacher Lee Ann Fuller, twin sisters who are faculty members and John Carroll alumnae, are members of the same family. Left the Rev. Robert Sullivan, ’82, who is president of John Carroll High School, is another alum whose family has extensive ties to the school.

Fewer Students but High Standards

Today, John Carroll maintains a high standard of college preparatory education, with 100 percent of this year’s graduating class headed to college or the armed forces.

About 530 students are enrolled, and about 175 of them are new students, drawn from throughout the metro area and beyond, Weisberg said. “Our growth has been about 10 percent over the last two years.”

Enrollment is about half of what it was until the mid-1970s, when about 1,200 students attended, said Mike Boutin, ’73, the school’s director of alumni relations. Part of the drop over the decades was due to the “incredible public schools” that offer parents tuition-free education, he said.

Students come from 29 Birmingham neighborhoods, 11 cities in Jefferson County and five counties beyond Jefferson and Shelby – Blount, Chilton, Cullman, Tuscaloosa and Walker, according to the school.

About 76 percent of the students and two-thirds of the faculty and staff are practicing Catholics, and while students of all faiths are welcome, John Carroll retains its Catholic identity, with daily prayers, a chapel available all day long and Mass. Five priests and Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are on staff.

A connection to John Carroll is as strong as the ties of kinship for scores of area families, including twin sisters Lee Ann Heaton Fuller of Pelham and Ginny Heaton McMillan of Hoover, who graduated in 1997. McMillan was valedictorian and Fuller was salutatorian. Their mother, Mary Jo Lucia Heaton, graduated from John Carroll in 1970.

Their aunt, Lynda Hayes of Cahaba Heights, didn’t graduate from John Carroll but, “She made up for it by working there,” as the school secretary, Fuller, said.

Fuller’s daughter, Anna Grace Fuller, is a junior who will graduate in 2024 and her son is an eighth grader who will enroll next year as a member of the Class of 2027. Nieces and nephews have attended too.

When she was in high school, John Carroll was a place that “felt like family,” she said.

“You could see the teachers’ relationships, that they had friendships. I always wanted to teach; it’s just the only place I wanted to teach was John Carroll,” said Fuller, who is chairwoman of the school’s Math Department and teaches economics. Her sister is a guidance counselor.

Betty Casmus Gadilhe, ’49, and her family have longstanding ties to the school that stretch over the generations, including all four of her children and most of her grandchildren. The former John Carroll cheerleader has good memories of her two years there.

“There were some great teachers,” Gadilhe said. She said that tuition was $10 a month, and that, for the first time as a student, all her books were new. “It was a great opportunity to get a good foundation for life. It was so nice to be around so many Catholics I could be friends with,” she said.

The Rev. Robert Sullivan, ’82, who is president of John Carroll High School, is another alum whose family has extensive ties to the school. His mother is a graduate, as are his four brothers and 10 cousins, while his niece is a freshman this year.

“John Carroll was a constant presence in all of our lives,” he said.

Some practical things changed for the better over the decades, such as the addition of air conditioning when the new school opened in 1992. The Highland Avenue building never had central air.

Today the school endures, not only as a place, but as “a culture; it is who we are,” he said.

What does Sullivan see for John Carroll and its students in the future?

“For it to continue to grow and teach and continue to form the young minds of the people of Birmingham so they can go to Birmingham and beyond Birmingham and live lives of significance to God and others,” he said.

Indian Springs Teacher Begins 51st Year in the Classroom

By Anne Ruisi

It wasn’t a good time to get a job in physics when William LaCasse finished his Ph.D. in 1972. With few opportunities in the field, he accepted what he thought would be a temporary job at Indian Springs School that fall.

Five decades later, LaCasse, 78, is about to start his 51st year of teaching in the classroom when Indian Springs reopens Aug. 12 for the new school year.

“I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I’ve been here 50 years, but no two years have been the same,” LaCasse said.

Head of School Scott Schamberger praised LaCasse in remarks made at a faculty meeting when the teacher was marking his 50th year on campus. He described LaCasse as “a titan at Indian Springs, quietly and diligently going about his business of shaping young minds and transforming lives.”

“I am a believer that we stand upon the shoulders of the giants that came before us. In the case of Dr. LaCasse, I find myself incredibly fortunate that he is still standing among us as a true stalwart of the Indian Springs faculty,” Schamberger concluded.

LaCasse was born in Minnesota, but his childhood was spent traveling, as his father was in the Air Force. After high school, he attended St. John’s University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in math and physics.

From there, he headed south to Vanderbilt University in Nashville for his doctorate in physics. He finished the five-year Ph.D. program in 1972. Initially, he wanted to work in applied physics and looked for a job in the industry, such as in a lab.

“It was a very bad time to get in physics,” LaCasse said.

He did hear he could interview for a high school teaching job, and the interviewer in Nashville was going to be the head of Indian Springs School. He also had an interview with the outgoing head and was invited to join the faculty to teach physics.

While he thought he was going to teach for just a year and then look for opportunities outside the academic realm, he stayed for a second year, then a third, a fourth and after decades, marked 50 years with the private school last year.

“It was great material to work with, and the subject material itself, I enjoyed teaching it,” LaCasse said of the curriculum. “There was a good caliber of students.”

At that time, physics was a required course for all students at what was then an all-boys school. In his second year at Indian Springs, LaCasse started teaching math. While teaching, he earned his teaching accreditation through the University of Montevallo.

LaCasse also was involved in extracurricular activities, such as prepping students for the Scholars’ Bowl, the National Science Bowl and the United States Academic Decathlon.

He taught math and physics in past years, but he’s been teaching only math for the past dozen, since he’s gone to part-time. This year he’ll teach differential equations in the first semester and calculus in the second. Both classes are optional, and so the students who sign up are motivated, LaCasse said.

“Some wanted to get ahead in their math and science in AP classes. Other students wanted to take the classes now and never have to take math again,” LaCasse said.

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

William LaCasse, 78, is about to start his 51st year of teaching in the classroom when Indian Springs reopens Aug. 12 for the new school year.

LaCasse Watches Indian Springs Change

In his half-century at Indian Springs, the school and the campus have changed a lot, he said. In the early 1970s, for example, the campus was isolated, as Interstate 65 hadn’t been built through Shelby County. Now it is a short drive to the state’s major north-south highway. The school also is co-ed now.

Indian Springs’ student population has grown over the years, LaCasse said. When he started teaching in 1972, there were 202 students and now there are about 325, Director of Communications Rachel Preskitt said.

Until he moved to part-time status, LaCasse lived on campus, as do many of the full-time faculty. Once he started working part-time, he got his own home off-campus.

And while he doesn’t keep up with his past students on social media as some teachers do, he does enjoy seeing them at alumni gatherings and similar events.

In his off-time, LaCasse likes to occasionally play golf, with the links at Oak Mountain a favorite.

Mountain Brook’s Tommy Butrus Starts at Annapolis

Thomas K. Butrus of Mountain Brook has begun training at the U.S. Naval Academy. Butrus, who graduated from Mountain Brook High School this year, was inducted into the academy’s Class of 2026 on June 30.

He is one of 1,200 candidates undergoing six weeks of basic midshipman training as part of Plebe Summer, according to a news release from the academy’s Public Affairs Office. More than 16,000 applications were received for a spot at the prestigious military service academy.

During the training, plebes are not allowed access to TV, the internet, music or movies, in preparation for beginning their first year at Annapolis and the three years that follow. They also have restricted access to cell phones and may make only three calls during the six weeks.

It’s a summer of rigorous training with plebes learning the basics of seamanship, navigation, damage control, sailing and handling yard patrol craft. They learn infantry drill and how to handle and shoot 9mm pistols and M-16 rifles. Daily training sessions involve mental, physical, moral, professional development and teambuilding skills.

Sally Otts was a nervous wreck.

Even though she had just won the Senior Level A Three-Baton competition at the 2022 U.S. Twirling Association’s National Baton Twirling Championships, Otts was still on edge.

That’s because her younger sister Susan Otts still had to compete on the junior level in the national championships, which took place July 11-16 in Stockton, California.

“I was stressed,” Sally Otts said. “I was on the edge of my seat because I knew how bad she wanted it. We do fight, because we’re sisters, but I always support her.”

Earlier, Susan Otts was just as stressed watching Sally compete. In the three-baton, the batons must be kept moving at all times.

“I am her biggest fan,” Susan Otts said. “I was very nervous. I was up there holding my hands the entire time, saying, ‘don’t drop the baton.’”

She didn’t drop her baton, and Sally Otts qualified for the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship & Nations Cup being held Aug. 4-13 in Liverpool, England. Her sister also earned a trip to Liverpool next summer by winning the Junior Level A X-Strut and placing third in Junior Level A Artistic Twirl.

“It’s very exciting that both of us made it,” Susan Otts said. “When Sally qualified, it pushed me to do what I needed to do to qualify.”

The sisters also qualified as members of Forte Twirl & Dance in Atlanta, where both are coached by Colleen Middleton. They qualified with Forte to compete in the Artistic Group team division at the Nations Cup.

Oak Mountain freshman majorette Grier Feldman also qualified in Junior 2 Baton during the USTA Nationals for the competition in Liverpool. Feldman, whose dad, Zachary Feldman, is the majorette sponsor at Oak Mountain, is close friends with the Otts sisters.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s great we’re going to England together,” Susan Otts said of Grier Feldman.

This will be Sally Otts’ second time competing internationally. In 2019, she competed in Limoges, France, in Junior Level A Three-Baton and Artistic Group with Forte and placed in the top eight in both.

“It’s incredibly exciting to qualify again,” Sally Otts said. “The first time, I’d never done qualifying competition before, so it was all new to me and a super big surprise when I made the team. This time I was working hard to make it, so it was another level of expectations. All my hard work paid off, but it was also a feeling of relief, too, so I could enjoy the rest of my summer.”

Give It a Twirl

Oak Mountain Sisters Qualify for International Baton Competition

Courtesy

Sisters Sally and Susan Otts show of their medals at the USTA Championships in Stockton, Calif.

Sisters Share Passion With Their Mother

Sally Otts has been twirling for 14 years. She graduated from Oak Mountain High School in 2021 and now is a sophomore at the University of Alabama, double majoring in finance and economics and minoring in management communication.

She also is in her second year as a Crimsonette with Alabama’s Million Dollar Band, following in the footsteps of her mother, Anne Otts. Anne (Hardison) Otts was a majorette at Alabama in the late 1980s, and that’s where she met her husband, Jody Otts, who was a member of the band.

Sally Otts’ two older brothers are also in the Million Dollar Band. Cole, a senior, plays trombone, and Thomas, a junior, plays trumpet.

Sally Otts started twirling because of her mother, who grew up in Florence and twirled at what then was Bradshaw High School.

“I definitely get twirling from my mother,” Sally Otts said. “I was 5 and she signed me up for recreation classes and I just loved it.”

Susan Otts has been twirling for 11 years. She is a junior at Oak Mountain and majorette co-captain.

“I started twirling because of my sister,” Susan Otts said. “I would go watch her and it looked like fun, so I decided I wanted to do it, too.”

Anne Otts is absolutely delighted her daughters became twirlers.

“I couldn’t be more happy about my girls twirling,” she said. “I believe you are born with a passion for twirling or not. I discovered the sport in elementary school and longed to be a majorette. I introduced my girls casually to

twirling in kindergarten through an after-school recreation program at Oak Mountain Elementary. I never forced it on them, they fell in love with it on their own.

“I’m so proud of their hard work and accomplishments. They surpassed my meager twirling skills years ago. I could only dream of twirling like them.”

The sisters are not cookie-cutter twirlers. They are quite different.

“We’re both our own person with our own skill set,’ Sally Otts said. “I love twirling multiple batons and doing power twirling with tosses, which requires strength. Susan is like a ballerina. She’s so graceful.”

“I am more of a dancer, an artistic twirler,” said Susan Otts, whose events combine twirling with dance and gymnastics.

Susan Otts is a two-time Strut National Champion – 2022 16-year-old Strut Champion and 2021 15-year-old Strut Champion.

“I love performing,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much until the last two years. I have a floor routine and I can’t lose focus. I love twirling before the judges and captivating them.”

This will be Sally Otts’ second time competing internationally. In 2019, she competed in Limoges, France, in Junior Level A Three-Baton and Artistic Group with Forte and placed in the top eight in both.

Priceless

Vestavia Hills Student Earns Bronze in Karate World Championships

By RuBin E. GRant

The exuberant reaction of Grace Kingrey’s dad, Dave Kingrey, was priceless.

After failing to medal in the 2021 WUKF Karate World Championships in Romania, Grace Kingrey earned a bronze medal in the event this year, held July 3-7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I was so happy,” Grace Kingrey said. “I ran over to my dad and he was smiling and said, ‘You did so amazing.’ Then, we called my mom to let her know.

“It was such a cool experience, knowing I was representing my state. I know I have to always improve my training and push myself to perform once I’m out there. I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did.”

A few days earlier, the Vestavia Hills High School junior earned two silvers and two golds at AAU Karate Nationals, held June 28-July 2 in Fort Lauderdale.

Keith MacConkey, Kingrey’s instructor at USA Martial Arts Bluff Park Dojo, was thrilled to see her hard work pay off.

“I am really proud of Grace and all she has accomplished,” MacConkey said. “There were competitors from all the over the country and all over the world. I knew if she continued to challenge herself that she stood a good chance to do well. Her work ethic is unmatched. She’s very self-motivated, self-driven.”

Kingrey, 16, has had to learn to perform well in front of a crowd of spectators because being in the spotlight is out of character for her.

“Grace is more of a shy person,” MacConkey said. “She doesn’t like being in the spotlight. I am really proud of her for being in the spotlight and going out and performing. Not everyone can perform under pressure with people watching, but Grace is blessed to do that at a high level.”

Kingrey has been training in martial arts for 10 years. She’s a second degree black belt in karate and Taekwondo, and she trains in judo, jiu-jitsu and Iaido.

“My dad used to do Taekwondo and that interested me,” Kingrey said. “After we moved down here from Edina, Minnesota, I decided I would like to compete.

“I honestly like being able to kick, punch and move my body. It gives me confidence to perform in front of my family and others.”

MacConkey has been Kingrey’s instructor since 2015 and likes the way she goes about her business.

“She is always dedicated to training, often staying after class, and she has great attention to detail,” MacConkey said. “She takes instruction well.”

In 2021, Kingrey earned a silver medal in open kumite at the AAU Nationals in Greenville, S.C., and earned a gold medal at the AAU Junior Olympics in Houston.

Kingrey’s ultimate goal is to attend medical school and become either a dermatologist or a pediatrician, but for now she plans to continue participating in martial arts.

“I am going to compete in the Worlds next year in Scotland,” she said.

SPARTANS

From page 32 leyball team as a sophomore. Paige is a defensive specialist.

The other Mae Mae on the team is sophomore outside hitter Mae Mae Beatty.

The twins and Mae Maes are part of a talented group that will not only try to bring Gardner her second consecutive Class 6A state championship but also lead the Spartans to their fourth consecutive title overall and seventh since 2014.

“Our goal is always the same — to win a state championship,” said Gardner, who was an assistant with the team when it captured titles in 2019 and 2020. “That’s on the forefront of our minds from Day 1.”

New Hands on Deck

Mountain Brook graduated four seniors off its 2021 title team that finished 43-12, including middle hitter Greer Golden and outside hitter Lucy Redden, who were the team leaders in kills. The other two seniors who graduated were outside hitter Hannah Hitson and libero Alexandra Carlson.

In addition to them, right-side hitter Sims Kilgore has elected not to play her senior season this fall.

“She wanted to explore different things,” Gardner said. “We hate losing a piece of the family, but we want what’s best for Sims.”

The Spartans will have three seniors, setter Addie Holden, defensive specialist Anna Frances Adams and middle hitter Caroline Heck.

The Lacey and Parant twins are among seven juniors on the team, including defensive specialist Ava Gillis, outside hitter Ann Coleman and middle hitter Alice Garzon.

Beatty and sophomore defensive specialist Ella Kate Wright round out the roster.

“We’re athletic and we’ve got players who have been playing volleyball for some time and have played for championships. So, this is reload and not a rebuild,” said Gardner, who last year was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 list, an award recognizing the top young coaches in the game.

Gardner has added two new varsity assistants who played collegiately, Stephanie Palmer (Winthrop and Samford) and Erin Godwin (Berry College). Freshman coach Alana Schouten also is new, while Tien Le returns to coach the junior varsity.

“We have a quality staff,” Gardner said. “I am super excited about them.”

Mountain Brook opens the season Aug. 18 at home against Spanish Fort, then will play in the Juanita Boddie Tournament Aug. 19-20 at the Finley Center in Hoover.

The Spartans will compete in Class 6A, Area 10 along with Pell City, Shades Valley and Woodlawn.

Gardner is eager to begin her second season at the helm.

“The expectations for me is to see if can I do it again and show last year wasn’t just beginner’s luck,” she said with a laugh.

Mountain Brook has two sets of twins on this year’s volleyball team: Juniors Hannah and Paige Parant, above from left, and Juniors Mae Mae and Annie Lacey.

Returning starters include Brooklyn Allison, a setter, Emily Breazeale, an outside hitter, and a libero, Lilly Johnson.

SPAIN PARK

From page 32 tions. Breazeale was the MVP in the 2022 AHSAA All-Star volleyball game in July, and the 6-1 Shea is a dominant presence on the Jags’ front row.

They are four of the eight seniors on the team. The others are defensive specialist Ashley Fowler, middle hitter Macie Thompson, defensive specialist-setter Haley Thompson, and outside hitter Nora Dawson.

Also returning are 6-0 freshman Megan Ingersoll, a middle hitter/outside hitter who started at times last season as an eighth-grader, and sophomore outside hitter Reagan Gilbert.

“We’ve got a mix of young players and older players,” Bowen said. “But sometimes we struggle with which ones are going to step up and provide leadership and which ones are going to take over when we need them to on the court.”

Spain Park will open the season Aug. 18 at home against McGillToolen and then play in the Juanita Boddie Invitational Aug. 19-20 at the Finley Center in Hoover.

The Jags will compete in Class 7A, Area 6 along with Oak Mountain, Chelsea and Hewitt-Trussville.

“This team has a new identity,” Bowen said. “We’re working on building team chemistry, on and off the floor, and deciding what our standard is. When that’s player driven, you will have a great team, but if it’s coach driven, you may win some but it will be more inconsistent. The players all have to be chasing the same goal.”

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