2005 Catholic Schools Week Supplement

Catholic school students celebrate week
with various activities

By Brandon A. Evans

Most Catholic schools in the archdiocese are in some way celebrating Catholic Schools Week, which runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Jeffersonville is celebrating the week in many different ways, but the culmination will be a volleyball game of eighth-graders vs. the faculty and staff on Friday.

The event always brings out the best of the school’s spirit, and the pastor of the parish, Father Thomas Clegg, added to the fun by wearing a festive wig to the game last year.

St. Matthew School in Indianapolis put on an art show for the parish on Jan. 21 by having all the students paint self-portraits.

The students also had a “graffiti” wall, made arm bands and played a game where they had to guess which self-portrait fit which teacher.

The goal was to teach the students about self-expression through art.

St. Mary School in North Vernon has a host of activities lined up, beginning with a 5 p.m. Mass on Jan. 29.

Children at the school will read letters from their parents explaining why they were sent to Catholic school, and will also enjoy a pizza lunch, a silly sock day (to remind them that we walk in our faith together) and a chance to hear from school alumni.

Pope John XXIII School in Madison has had several successful events in past years.

One such event has students writing about why they like their school, while at others, students collected “care buckets” filled with various items for those in community service (i.e., firemen) and wrote letters to shut-ins and those in nursing homes.

The principal also delivered a “State of the School” address to Prince of Peace Parish during the weekend Masses.

Community service is a common way that many Catholic schools honor their religious heritage.

Last fall, Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School in Indianapolis held a food drive that raised more than 23,000 cans of food for the Holy Cross Food Pantry. The different classes had a competition to see how much food they could collect.

St. Mark the Evangelist School in Indianapolis “adopted” a squad of Army soldiers stationed in Iraq. The students have donated items that the soldiers needed, and also wrote letters to them.

Students at the same school, in the fourth grade class, have also spend the last few years making quilts for babies served by the archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry’s Birthline ministry—something that teaches them motor skills, following directions, service and even Indiana history. †