Sisters, Sisters

Amanda Lauer reminisces about the religious sisters who made an impact on her life. 

“Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters…”

Anyone else enjoy the movie White Christmas as much as I do?” Before I ever had a chance to see the reruns of that holiday classic on TV, I had the pleasure of being in the presence of sisters — as in religious sisters — on a daily basis when I was in grade school at St. John’s in Antigo, Wisconsin. Or God’s country, as we like to call it.  

My Teachers: Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

I started school there in first grade (I’m old enough to have lived when Catholic schools didn’t have kindergartens; if your parents wanted you to start school before first grade, you went to the local public school for a year — in my case, East Elementary). My first-grade teacher was a member of the order of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, who were assigned to our schools.   

Sister Leonita was, what we called in the ‘70s "old school." I remember feeling intimidated by her. Maybe it was the religious habit she wore, or the fact that she was no-nonsense when it came to teaching. It provided a solid base to my education, though. In second through fifth grades, I had lay teachers. Here’s a shout-out to Mrs. Calmes, my second-grade teacher. She was even cooler than Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch, and she made me love going to school each day. I don’t want to say that I was the teacher’s pet, but the two of us are still friends to this day, and she buys signed copies of my books each time a new one comes out … and sends me a little extra money for a cup of coffee.   

In sixth through eighth grade, our class moved up to the second and third floors of the old St. John’s school building. We had assigned seats in our classrooms, but rather than having one teacher for the whole day, we had different teachers who came to our classroom to teach our core subjects.

By this time, Sister Frances Ann was our principal and librarian, and we became pals. No one loved reading more than I did, so we spent a good deal of quality time together. I’m not sure how many times she checked out my favorite book for me, A Wrinkle in Time, but it was a lot. I should mention that Sister Frances Ann and I are still in touch! She’s the librarian at the motherhouse in Manitowoc, and I make sure to send her copies of my signed books for the library each time another one is published. Such a sweet lady!  

Part of our crew of teachers in junior high (what we called sixth through eighth grades) were three more religious sisters from the same order. Sister Jolene was our music teacher. We regaled her with our version of the Dolly Parton song “Jolene” almost every time she met us in the music room to start class. She was always a good sport about it.   

Then there were Sister Cheryl and Sister Georgellen. Our class had them as teachers all three years of junior high. As a group, we loved those ladies. They were outstanding teachers and genuinely wonderful people. They shared with us the laughter and the tears that go along with being pre-teens and early teens. Sister Georgellen was even a chaperone when the girls in our class attended Camp Vista, a Catholic girls’ summer camp in Campbellsport, Wisconsin.   

I look back at those years with fondness. I even based my book Anything But Groovy on that pivotal time in my life. There were good times and bad times, but our class felt like a team. When we graduated from eighth grade, those wonderful sisters and our lay teachers were there in the audience cheering us on, and probably shedding a tear or two like us girls as we listened to the song, “The Times of Our Life,” by Paul Anka.   

Reconnecting with the Religious Sisters  

In the past 10 years, not only did I reconnect with Sister Frances Ann, but I also reconnected with Sister Georgellen. (Sister Cheryl has passed, God bless her soul. I’m guessing she was on the fast track to sainthood, having to put up with the 35 rambunctious kids in our class for three years straight.) It turns out that Sister Georgellen was raised in a town 10 minutes from where I live and she goes back home once a year for a week of vacation.

Now, when she’s in town, we get together for coffee and reminisce about the good old St. John’s days. And, of course, I give her signed copies of my newest books. I owe so much to her and the other religious sisters that taught me, the least I can do is gift them my work. If it wasn’t for them, who knows if I ever would’ve become a writer. While the Sisters may have been strict at times, they were exemplary teachers and made a huge difference in my life. I’ll forever be grateful for them!  

Do you have a teacher, perhaps a religious sister, who made an impact on your life? Have you been able to contact them and let them know how special they were to you? If you can, I’d highly recommend reaching out to them!    

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Copyright 2025 Amanda Lauer
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; others copyright 2025 Amanda Lauer, all rights reserved.