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April 2, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
At the recent SF Talks, the TED-style
event in which students at Saint Francis
High School inspire their audience with
short powerful talks, 14 Lancers shared
stories of transformation, self-discovery
and perseverance.
This was the second year this student-
run event was hosted, and for the student
speakers, it was incredibly worthwhile,
and sometimes cathartic, to be on stage.
They spoke on a variety of topics, ranging
from finding the joy of personal writ-
ing to expanding global perspectives to
overcoming learning disabilities. Some
chose a topic that was personal, such
as junior Yatin Bhat who spoke on how
he copes with OCD. He noted that he
wanted to open up about this aspect of
his life because this was the first time in
school that he could talk at length about
any topic that he wanted. More impor-
tantly, he wanted to encourage those in
the audience who were going through a
difficult time.
“If we’re able to talk about things that
are important or sensitive to us, it lets
other people know that they can do it,
Finding purpose and spreading hope at SF Talks
too,” he says.
Junior Serena Bujtor shared about her
struggles with depression. It was difficult
for her to be on stage, she says, but the
numerous comments she received from
others who said they benefited from her
message was extremely gratifying.
“I felt powerful afterwards, like my
story did something,” she says. “It gave
my journey a purpose.”
Senior Madison Horn also spoke
from the heart, opening up about her
sexual assault to talk about consent. It’s
a relevant topic that doesn’t get talked
about enough, and too many people are
getting hurt, she says.
“The talk was my closure, my putting
it behind me because I’ve been holding
on to my experience for so long,” she
says. “I wasn’t strong enough to stand up
for myself then so this was me putting it
all behind me and moving on. This was
the resolution I was looking for.”
Not surprisingly, audience members
were moved by the honesty they heard.
Senior Ninaad Raman had planned to
attend just a portion of the event, but
he stayed for the whole day, completely
drawn in. Although the stories were spe-
cific to the speakers, all the topics were
universal enough to resonate with the au-
dience. Even several days after SF Talks,
Ninaad was still chewing over what he
heard, including the talk by senior Nick
Juran on overcoming adversity.
“Nick’s talk got to me,” Ninaad says.
“There are people who are going through
many harder things that I am and
fighting them. I should be able to fight
through what I have so much easier and
be able to appreciate that.”
SF Talks made such an impact on that
Madison is determined to help the event
grow even bigger next year, even though
she’ll be a college student. Everyone,
from the student speakers to the teens
and adults in the audience, benefits from
an event like SF Talks.
“I was so lucky to have gone out of
my comfort zone,” Madison says. “Public
speaking is terrifying, but pushing your-
self to do it can be so rewarding. SF Talks
gives you a platform to voice your story.”
Saint Lucy School Celebrates Literacy
March has been a busy literacy
month for the students at Saint Lucy
School. Students in Pre-K through
2nd grade participated in Read Across
America, the reading motivation and
awareness program which is celebrated
every year on the birthday of beloved
children’s author Dr. Seuss. Activities
for the students included reading some
of Dr. Seuss’ most beloved classics
such as the Cat in the Hat and Green
Eggs and Ham. Creating Cat in the
Hat drawings and hats, learning more
about Dr. Seuss and his life through
on-line applications like Brain-Pop.
A week later, the traditional Scholas-
tic Book Fair kicked off with the fam-
ily ice cream social and pajama night.
The turn out was amazing with over
30 gallons of ice cream served along
with a selection of fun, engaging, and
affordable books children will want to
read again and again. The next week
was filled with students and parents
shopping at the book fair. Not only
purchasing books for themselves, Saint
Lucy School adopted the new library
at Sacred Heart Nativity School in
downtown San Jose. Students can offer
support by using the ALL FOR Books
donations to help build this sister
school’s library.
Not only do all these activities
engage students in more reading and
greater literacy, each day at morning
assembly the Saint Lucy faculty were
also thrilled to receive books for their
class libraries donated by their own
students. And who but only Clifford,
the Big Red Dog, could help make each
morning of the Book Fair a celebration
in literacy!