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Photography: COURTESY

MIAMI | A long time ago in a high school by the bay, a young Sister of St. Joseph of St. Augustine began teaching chemistry to high school students. They nicknamed her “Sister Red” for the color of her hair.

Fifty years and one month later, the high school, Immaculata-La Salle, renamed its chemistry lab in honor of “Sister Red” – whose hair is now a red-tinged white and who is better known by her given name, Sister Elizabeth Anne Worley.

Sister Elizabeth, who now serves as chancellor for administration and chief operating officer of the Archdiocese of Miami, is marking her 60th year in religious life, the occasion that spurred the tribute.

But her influence continues to be felt at the high school, many of whose alumni remember her fondly.

“The impact that Sister Worley had on shaping the students at ILS is immeasurable. Her service to the Catholic Church and to education has influenced the lives of our alumni to this day,” said Immaculata-La Salle’s principal, Salesian Sister Kim Keraitis, before unveiling the plaque that now marks Room 403 at the high school.

Sister Kim noted that Immaculata-La Salle’s STEAM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) now includes six focus areas, “including our most popular focus, Health Science, which was developed in conjunction with Mercy Hospital because of Sister Elizabeth’s support and influence.”

One of Sister Elizabeth’s alumni is Ignacio Halley, a 1978 graduate who took organic chemistry with her before embarking on a career in engineering. He now serves as president of the high school’s board. (His remarks start at the 7-minute mark in the video below.)

“You had a big effect in my life,” Halley said, choking back tears. “As an educator, you never know how much you touch somebody, but Sister, you're one of those to me.”

He noted that organic chemistry was one of those classes “everybody feared,” but “she was such a good teacher” she made it easy to learn.

After graduation, he weighed offers from the University of Miami, Clemson and others but, at Sister Elizabeth’s insistence, chose to claim a football scholarship at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

One of the “weed-out” courses for students intent on engineering is organic chemistry, Halley noted, “but I can tell you I could have taught that class. It was that easy to me.”

“We were athletes, but we were also scientists, and I guarantee you anybody who walked out of this second-floor chemistry class or organic class came out a scientist because of your teaching,” Halley said.

For her part, Sister Elizabeth looked fondly back at what she described as “eight fabulous years” teaching at Immaculata-La Salle. (Her remarks start at minute 12 of the video below.)

“We had a wonderful experience here because we worked hard, we prayed hard, we played hard. We loved it. And I would have been here for the rest of my life, happy as a clam upstairs in my lab, but God had other plans,” she said.

Those plans included seven more years teaching chemistry at Madonna Academy (now Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory) in Hollywood, followed by nearly two decades as chairman of the board of Mercy Hospital, a master’s degree in business administration, two years as CEO of Catholic Hospice in Miami and three years as chancellor for administration in the Diocese of Orlando before taking up the same position back in Miami in July 2010.

“One of the greatest privileges of a teacher is to stick around long enough to see the successes of those with whom that teacher has worked, and I've been privileged in extraordinary ways,” Sister Elizabeth said, noting that former students have called out to her – “Sister Red!” – in such unexpected places as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Louvre Museum in Paris.

“I'm grateful they learned not just what the mighty electron was doing and how to predict what that would mean in organic chemistry, but they learned the lessons of life that Iggy (Halley) has so beautifully expressed,” Sister Elizabeth said.

She told the current students seated among the faculty, board members and staff listening to her, “I challenge you to take those life lessons you learn here” and use them “for the sake of the world, not just for you.”

The gifts you have been given are “God-given gifts,” Sister Elizabeth stressed. “We are held accountable for those gifts. It's been my privilege to do it for a lifetime, my privilege to hear it reflected back today.”