St. Michael's Secondary School (Penampang)

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Location
St. Michael's Secondary School, Penampang also, SM St. Michael, Penampang.
Kampong Dabak, Penampang Malaysia
Information
School district	Penampang
Principal	Marie Yong Pik Hua
Enrollment	over 1,000
Type	Secondary School
Grades	Form 1 to Form 5
Motto	Ora et Labora (Pray and Work)
Color(s)	Red, Yellow, Blue
Established	1890
Yearbook	Michaelian
Parent-Teacher Association Yang-DiPertua	Anne Lasimbang
Homepage	Sabah Edu.net

St. Michael's Secondary School, Penampang (Malay: Sekolah Menengah St. Michael, Penampang) commonly known as SM St. Michael is a notable secondary school in Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. It was named after Saint Michael the Archangel.

[edit] History

The school was built in 1890 by Mill Hill missionaries to convert the local people into Catholicism. The mode of transportation was then the Moyog River. This caused the present day St. Michael's church and the school to be built in Kampong Dabak, Penampang which was close to the river. The first school building was made out of bamboo. It was also a home to the church's priests. The bare ground was the floor and it was walled around 3 feet from the ground. The students used a slate and a block of limestone to write. The school was not a success, as most locals did not allow their children to go to school as they feared the British North Borneo Company would take their children as soldiers. Students paid their fees in rice, tapioca, yam, fruit and firewood.

The land which the school stands now used to be a paddy field. It was donated by the locals to the school. Despite the fact that the students shared their classroom with village goats, the school had a good reputation as students as far as Tambunan and Kuala Penyu came to study in the school. This caused the opening of a boarding school.

During World War II, the Japanese occupation forced the temporary closure of the school. However, the school was not badly damaged, suffering only from machine gun bullets. Reverend M. Henselmans applied to convert the school to a senior or secondary school on August 10, 1957 to provide the 53 students who were then in primary six with a post-primary school. The school was converted into a secondary school on March 10, 1958 with Marcus Otigil at the helm.

St. Michael is a famous school in Penampang and also in Sabah by holding on to the title of champion 14 years in a row in district level sports, great achievements in choir and lots of potential atlethes and leaders.The school also was famous for its strict rules and high performances in academic for the last few years.

St Michael also was famous for being visited by many international students especially from Korea. Dong Hwa High School was one of them. Every year, two students from St. Michael will depart to Korea as a part of this exchange program.

The school is also famous for the ambitious Marie Yong Pik Hua who is leading the school as principal. She aims to turn the school into "an environmental sustainable school by the year 2010".