Selling a Future Rooted in Tradition
Reprinted from Traditions, Winter 2019-20
April 3, 2020
Mary Jo Groeller is our Honorary Derham Hall feature this issue. Several people nominated her not even realizing she was not an alum. We agreed, believing that her four decades of service to Derham Hall and later Cretin-Derham Hall brings her into a ‘class’ of her own. Her two children, Molly Groeller Dragert ’91 and Sam Groeller ’94 also attended Cretin-Derham Hall. In fact, her daughter was in the first freshman class of the merger. She and her husband Chuck Groeller '62 are blessed with six grandchildren.
There was a lot happening in the world in 1968 that would affect generations of people.
One such moment was a big decision that year made by Mary Jo Sweeney Groeller to teach French at Derham Hall. She had two job offers to teach French right out of college and, in one life-changing moment, chose Derham Hall.
With a twinkle in her eye, she confidently notes that, other than marrying her husband Chuck in 1971, this was one of the best decisions she ever made.
Having grown up in St. Paul, she attended Nativity and later St. Mark’s. She graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy and then went to college at St. Catherine’s where she studied Education, French and Sociology. “I always loved French, since 8th grade,” recalled Mary Jo. “So I studied it in college, but I did not know what I wanted to do with it until I realized I wanted to teach.”
As a teacher, she found high school students to be both fun and challenging. She admired the hard work teachers did to challenge Derham Hall students, while channeling their creative energy and believed she found her niche.
In the late 1970s, she was asked by Sister Judith Kavanaugh, CSJ to teach part-time and take on responsibility for the school’s Public Relations. Over time, this role morphed into Admissions and she eventually was named Admissions Administrator.
She realized early on how important it was to be a collaborator — both inside the school and with our colleague schools. “One thing that I realized early in that role was the schools in our Archdiocese needed to be collaborators with one another instead of strictly competitors,” // ALUMNI PROFILE said Mary Jo. “I helped organize an Association of Admissions Directors so that we could work together for the sake of the families.” Some of those early collaborations are still in effect today: We coordinate the admissions calendar so Open Houses/Tours are not at the same time on the same day, hold one placement testing day for prospective students, ensure scholarships/tuition assistance are not offered until after the test, and organize elementary visits to be respectful of the 8th grader’s time.
The biggest challenge of her career in Admissions, though, came when Derham Hall and Cretin became serious about merging.
“All of a sudden, I was trying to recruit for a school that didn’t really exist yet,” she explained. “I looked for creative ways to show what we believed CDH ‘would’ be — and I tried very hard to show a very balanced view of what this newly merged school would offer.”
Confidence in the Unknown
Anyone who lived through that time would agree that there were many who were hard to convince that they should have confidence in the unknown. “My job was to assure our current families as well as new families, and even some of our faculties from both schools, that the best of Cretin and the best of Derham Hall was coming together to form one stronger school.”
She points to Richard Engler, former Principal/President, who lead CretinDerham Hall through the merger years until his retirement in 2015, as an inspired leader who helped steer the two very different schools into one strong community.
Mary Jo recalls some very tough days and she often had to remind herself that she not only believed in the new school, she wanted to make it work and minimize the divisive nature of a merger. She notes that she is really proud that she was involved in the decision-making that helped determine what the school would be, and how it could be even better.
“I learned how important ‘community’ is,” she said with passion. “We are a group of people who were, and still are, connected by our common philosophy and goals, caring, and fun. That is the basis of our school.”
The new Cretin-Derham Hall became a school that really cared about students, was known for teaching in a fun and engaging way, and willing to try new ways of doing things. With a strong Catholic foundation and excellent academics, the newly merged school became known as a flagship for the Archdiocese.
Admissions Plus
Mary Jo was not one to sit in the Admissions Office and watch from afar. Always a teacher, she was willing to step up and work with students where needed and found great energy in being a part of the student experience.
For instance, one year, the chaperone for the Ireland trip suddenly fell ill and could not go. Mary Jo stepped in, delighted to help students explore another country and understand both the Irish and the Northern Irish people and the barriers between them. This evolved into her leadership on nine different Ireland trips.
Perhaps her most unique role was as “Miss Molly,” a performing clown complete with a big wig, colorful costume and make-up. She and Brother Michael Rivers, aka Ollie the Clown, started a Clown Club for students at CDH, whose sole purpose was to entertain. The students had opportunities to not only have fun, but to bring joy to others.
Brother Michael/Ollie describes her clowning days, “She was the perfect Irish Lassie, dressed in green from head to toe. Mary Jo was the perfect Caring Clown and was always ready to share her smile, hugs and gift of laughter.”
“Whether she was clowning at a nursing home, a parish festival or at a child’s birthday party, her enthusiasm was contagious and Mary Jo definitely knows how to touch hearts!”
Decisions matter — Mary Jo is proud that over four decades, she helped so many families to decide to join CDH. In addition, her personal life was impacted by joining the Derham Hall/ CDH community.
She explains that she became truly dedicated to the school community as it evolved, and treasures her relationships with fellow faculty/ staff, families, and students. She and several other “Derham Originals” as they call themselves, still meet up four times each year. There is also a gathering of retirees every Monday for coffee.
“I really loved this school and my job,” Mary Jo reflected. “My faith plays a large role in my life and, because Derham Hall and CDH were Catholic, I had a constant stream of faith mentors and found the philosophy of service reinforced my faith and brought me closer to God.”
“I am so grateful to have chosen Derham Hall.”