Sister Maryellen Harmon’s obituary includes tributes that remark on the combination of intellect and heart that formed and informed her. Marge Seitz, RSCJ remembered, “For me, she is up with the 'greats' in Society education. She never once forgot that her knowledge was at the service of others. . . Her intelligence was keen and she brought it to bear on everything. She was kind and generous to one and all.”
The extensive list of institutions Maryellen served as an educator, administrator and board member included several for underserved and at-risk populations. She was on the school board for the public schools in the city of Albany, NY. She was principal of Epiphany Grade School in inner-city Detroit. She also served as superintendent for the Archdiocese there, and in that capacity advocated for the inner-city schools. “In 1970, she founded The Street Academy, an "alternative education center" for at-risk youth in Albany’s inner city.” In an interview, Maryellen spoke of the support in the local community for Street Academy, “There were seven different organizations in the inner city, including The Brothers, who wanted to see something done for the community, for the boys and girls in need of an education, but [who] could not work with the rules of the public school system. Those kids needed a different kind of teaching and they needed their own gifts recognized and used. That was the feeling, the thought, the motivation behind it.”
Putting these experiences and her education to work, Maryellen served as a consultant on multi-cultural education and race relations. She also served as Director of the Multi-Cultural Education Program at Madonna University.
Quotations from obituaries and from the Street Academy of Albany Harriet Gibbons High School website.
To learn more about Maryellen Harmon, click on the links underneath her picture.
