Holy Cross High School, Bastora celebrates its Platinum Jubilee

The Holy Cross High School, Bastora is where I did most of my schooling until I left after Std. VI. I have vivid memories of the years I spent there. Today if I know good manners and polished English (sort of!),  or if I wear clean shoes, clean clothes, cut my nails regularly, comb my hair, its all attributed to this school. I cannot imagine that it has completed 75 years in 2010! It is a privilege to have been taught by the founding teachers like  Ms Margaret Mascarenhas, Mr Anthony Noronha, Ms Maria D’Mello, Ms Conception De Souza, Sr Pushpika (Sr Antoinette Coutinho), Ms Sushila and many others. Here is a small article about the school's history, published in The Navhind Times. The school is like a castle inside, many rooms locked with old memories and mysteries, huge "bhatt" to roam around. It was quite exciting! At least this article unravels a lot about how this institution came into being. Here it is!


The Holy Cross High School, Bastora celebrates its platinum jubilee this year. This great edifice, an institution which withstood the test of time, has produced great luminaries, outstanding personalities and strong willed men and women who have contributed immensely to the society in Goa, India and the world.
It all started with the dream and vision of a young girl in France, Claudine Echenier, who in her own little way – right from childhood – spread the love and care of God to the world. She chose the path to serve the Lord and dedicated her life for the up liftment of mankind. Mother Claudine began her little congregation in a small farmhouse in 1838. This has spread, today, to 16 different countries covering four of the five continents.
In 1933, the Sisters of the Cross were invited to Siolim to start a school for girls. Meanwhile, prominent citizens in Bastora were taken up by the work done by the sisters in Siolim. They approached Mother Celine Dumolin, who was the provincial head then, asking for a school to be opened in Bastora. Sr Margaret Lollioz was made superior and teacher at the institution while Sr Beatrice became the first headmistress. They were assisted by lay sister Agnes.
There was a small school being run in the premises of one, Abel Dias. This was handed over to the sisters, who started the school in June 1936. Dr Jaime Rangel gifted a part of his property to the sisters. Other parts of the property were purchased at nominal rates. Dr Rangel is also credited by the school authorities, for being a legal advisor, benefactor and a friend.
During the year 1942, even as the construction of the school was in progress, the sisters toiled hard to raise funds to complete the building. Every year, a fete was organised in Mapusa during the Milagres feast. This year also saw the introduction of boarding facilities to girl students.
In 1944, a new wing was added, which now forms the library, staff room etc. It was then used as a chapel premise. After 14 years of unstinted labour, the first batch of four students was sent for the matriculation examination in March 1950. In the mid-fifties, a very young Nicholas Quadros joined the service of the school. The sixties marked the advent of the first lay persons, Ms Margaret Mascarenhas and Ms Conception de Souza, being absorbed as staff teachers in the school.
At the same time, pressure mounted on the sisters to admit boys to the school. All along, the village boys had to walk to Guirim or elsewhere for schooling.
The school was made a co-education institution in 1970. Sadanand Narvekar, Joe Lobo and Anthony Noronha, joined in as the first set of male teachers.
The seventies marked the addition of the new wing for the high school which brought in more space for facilities like: a library, workshop rooms and laboratories. The school also got a proper residence for the sisters and a hall.
The eighties marked the golden jubilee year of the school. These years also marked the completion of the primary school building, and the closure of the boarding facility given to students.
At the time of the diamond jubilee, the Comunidade of Bastora gave the school a plot of land, to be developed into a playground.
The turn of the millennium marked the retirement of several stalwarts of the Holy Cross school-Ms Margaret Mascarenhas, Mr Anthony Noronha, Ms Maria D’Mello, Ms Conception De Souza, Mr Sadanand Narvekar and Mr Nicholas Quadros; and to close the decade, headmistress Sr Antoinette Coutinho, popularly called Sr Pushpica. This decade also marked the starting of a resource room to cater to children with special needs, and the enrolment of boys from the ‘Margaret Bosco Bal Sadan’ as students.
As the school heads into its platinum jubilee year, at its helm is Sr Alzira Furtado, who, herself, studied in this institution as a boarder. Apart from its past pupils, who returned to it as teachers or are serving elsewhere; this institution has produced a wide spectrum of students – from vegetable and fruit vendors to owners of departmental stores and managers of shopping malls; from waiters and bakers to confectioners and chefs; from clerks to accountants and managers; from drivers and mechanics to foremen and engineers; from lab technicians and nurses to doctors and professors in medical and dental colleges. It has also produced two scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography, a software engineer at Silicon Valley, USA, and senior-level journalists working for reputed newspapers and magazines.

http://www.navhindtimes.in/iexplore/holy-cross-high-school-bastora-celebrate-its-platinum-jubilee
Courtesy - The Navhind Times