With the flick of a dart
At first glance, the current music teacher at Tuscaloosa’s Holy Spirit Catholic School embodies the typical arts teacher: fun, witty, free-spirited, and, most importantly, happy. Generally, convention is not associated with this group of teachers, and Annie McClendon is not an exception. As a matter of fact, her path to Catholic education is far from conventional.
At first glance, the current music teacher at Tuscaloosa’s Holy Spirit Catholic School embodies the typical arts teacher: fun, witty, free-spirited, and, most importantly, happy. Generally, convention is not associated with this group of teachers, and Annie McClendon is not an exception. As a matter of fact, her path to Catholic education is far from conventional.
As a Pennsylvania native, McClendon attended Mercyhurst University, a Catholic institution founded by the Sisters of Mercy. While she wanted to pursue physical therapy, the school offered her a substantial scholarship to major in vocal performance, concentrating in opera. The detour would set the stage for what she calls the “theme” for her life. “It’s one of those things where you just don’t have control of where you’re going,” she explains.
After graduation, she admits to coming to the realization that she didn’t possess the discipline structure required of an opera singer. To make ends meet, she got a non-teaching job at a local school, but she wanted more: She wanted to be near jazz music. It was at this time that McClendon’s gut was telling her to move from her home state, so she made the quintessential free-spirited decision. Trusting in the Lord, she picked up a dart and threw it at a map.
The dart landed on Birmingham. Without hesitation, McClendon searched for local musicians online, attempting to line up a few singing jobs. Once that task was completed, she then began searching for a place to live. She quickly discovered Birmingham was going to be too expensive, so she took another detour and picked the next closest city with jobs: Tuscaloosa.
With only $2,000 in her bank account, she arrived in Alabama and luckily found a job with a domestic violence shelter, which helped pay her bills. One day, McClendon’s mother telephoned to say: “I found a church. You need to go. It’s called the Holy Spirit.” Taking her mom’s advice, McClendon drove to the church to deliver a note offering her services as a cantor if needed. One week later, the phone rang. It was Holy Spirit Catholic School calling, not the parish office. The voice on the other end of the line was Sister Tonette Sperando, then principal of the school, asking if McClendon would fill in for a day as a substitute teacher for the third-grade class. What came next validated McClendon’s so-called “life’s theme.”
The day she substituted, Sister Tonette sat in to observe the class. Soon after, she was interviewed and offered a job. In disbelief, the young McClendon accepted the job, going on to earn a master’s and an Ed.S. degree over the course of the next two decades. As she looks back, she does so without an ounce of regret, knowing the Holy Spirit was guiding her all along.
“It’s not a choice. It’s a calling: 100 percent,” she exclaims. Having not had the luxury of a Catholic elementary or secondary education herself, her position has not only helped her “relearn” her faith, but also allowed her to share that faith “without repercussion.”
“Going to school, having your basic subjects, then leaving without any character building, morals, or understanding of compassion feels like it would be just a shell of an education,” McClendon points out. “Academics are extremely important, but Catholic education does so much more than that — it shapes the heart, mind, and soul in ways no other school can.”
