Annuntiates: two centuries of education!

On Wednesday, November 29, the anniversary book ‘Annuntiaten: twee eeuwen onderwijs’ by historian and archivist Ria Christens was presented in the festive hall of the Heilig Hartinstituut in Heverlee. There were speeches by Sister Carine Devogelaere (superior general of the congregation), Ria Christens (author), Carl Snoecx (author of the book ‘Scholen die tot de sterren reiken’) and Roger Haest (chairman of the organizing committee). Students from the Lemmens Institute surrounded the event with exceptionally successful musical, dance and word performances.

The book ‘Annuntiaten: twee eeuwen onderwijs’ tells the story of a small-scale educational initiative that the sisters of the Congregation of Annuntiates of Heverlee set up in several neighboring villages and which gradually grew into a network of 95 schools with 25.000 students today in Leuven, Diest, Halle and Brussels.

The story of each of these schools has a place in this book: the founders, the key moments in their existence, the challenges, the school’s own vision, future prospects…

The book contains a wealth of stories where each ‘sub-story’ is just as interesting as the larger storyline. A must for anyone connected to the educational network of the Annuntiates, but (thanks to the author’s fluent pen and the many illustrations from the archive) also fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the history of our education.