Rose Philippine Duchesne Award
June 13, 2015
Lisa Tebbe ’80
Not long before her death, Philippine Duchesne predicted: “When I am dead, you will see that all will go well.” This seems, to me, to be a flagrant example of the sometimes dour outlook that framed so many of her quotes. And it certainly spoke of the self-effacement in which she liked to wrap herself. Of course, in this case, it sprang from the fear that so many Religious of the Sacred Heart lived with every summer as they held their breaths to see how many children would fill their classrooms (or their log cabin) the next fall.
Do you know what Philippine needed? A LISA TEBBE! As Admissions Director of today’s Academy, Lisa gets to know prospective families thoroughly as they prepare their children for entrance into the school. From preliminary phone calls, to open houses, to tours of the school, to testings, to communication during the long “advent” of their entry, Lisa is the one who has snared them with her warm welcome and answered their every question along the way. She’s the one who has trained the student ambassadors to show off our school to best advantage. (Parents leave after this tour with the fond dream that THEIR children will someday be as poised as those seventh and eighth graders.) She’s the one who sends out copies of The Acorn periodically, to keep newcomers abreast of what’s happening at their chosen school. She’s the one who hangs with these folks when they come to Country Fair or Chemin just so she can show them what lies in store for them as Academy parents.
A long time ago, in 1971, when she was just another kindergartener herself, Lisa’s parents enrolled her in a school that was having a few problems of its own that year. By December the announcement went forth that the high school would be closing at the end of the year. But what did a little girl in a plaid jumper and a navy smock know of that? The good news for her was that her brother would be coming to her school the next year! And so, for nine years, this was her HOME—the place where she learned her lessons, made her friends, and grew in the spirit of the Sacred Heart traditions. She flourished in that spirit!
Even though there was an interim of Archdiocesan high school and college life at Mizzou.
Even though her first job was with another religious order’s school, something (and someone) drew her back to St. Charles from her post in the public relations office at Fontbonne. With the encouragement of Sister Margaret Caire, during a visit here, Lisa brought her journalism skills AND her revived love of the Sacred Heart way of life back to her first school.
Beginning as Public Relations “Associate” in 1993, she worked with the Public Relations Director and soon proved that she was more than able to take over that role. Thursday Mails became polished publications, Heartbeats was born, and Lisa’s computer skills prepared the Advancement Department to move into the 21st Century.
However, the year 2000 found our young alumna testing the PR waters at “the other Sacred Heart School,” Villa Duchesne. Six years later she returned to St. Charles—surely with a broader vision of the Network’s reality and a revived appreciation of all that she had loved here from the beginning. In her new position as Admissions Director, she works with new families to our school while volunteering energetically with the Alumni Association to keep former students actively involved.
As president of our Alumni Association from 2012–2014, Lisa steered that ship through the unknown waters of our 100th anniversary and helped us to launch a few new events—Alumni bands for Country Fair weekend, the Alumni Day of Service, and Alumni Christmas Basket Assembly— that help to both “build community,” as Goal IV suggests, and support Goal III, which fosters “a social awareness which impels to action.” She is also the person behind the alum Facebook page, posting updates, promoting events, and sharing news with more than 560 members
Lisa’s husband, John Powell, is a theology teacher at Villa Duchesne, and so the concept of a true Sacred Heart family is lived out on a daily basis in their home, which, in Ferguson, Mo., has presented them with the opportunity to test the possibilities of Goal V in unexpected ways. Keeping freedom wise has been a challenge that she and John have embraced with their accustomed gentleness and easy-going wisdom. Their commitment to healing and moving their community forward has become a priority, as they work together for peace and justice.
There are guests here tonight who know Lisa Tebbe in a different sphere. The national board of AASH (Associated Alumnae/i of the Sacred Heart) is meeting in St. Charles this weekend and was pleased to be able to attend this liturgy with us and to affirm our choice of their young friend who has spent herself generously in their service—both as a board member for five years and, even now, as the editor of their publication, Esprit de Coeur.
And speaking of “our choice,” I almost feel that I need to explain that, since I am not an alumna of this school, I do not have a vote for the Duchesne Award. But nothing could have pleased me more than this year’s winner. Many of you know that I have four daughters. Only one of them is here tonight. But that’s not quite right. Because of my good fortune to work with alums for the last few years—and especially with those on the Alumni Coordinating Council—I find myself to be the lucky mother of MANY daughters (and a few sons)—and many of them are here tonight. Lisa Tebbe is surely one of them. I invite you to celebrate, with me, the choice for this year’s Duchesne Award: one of my other daughters, Lisa Tebbe.
by Jane Cannon, Alumni Director
