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November 20, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Queen of Apostles School Spreads Positivity Year Around
This year, Queen of Apostles School
opted for a school theme that revolves
around positivity and aptly called
it “Think Positive, Be Positive!” It
was unveiled in the form of bright,
yellow cheerful bees displayed on a
prominent school board. These bees
acknowledge students and staff mem-
bers who show a positive spirit. Each
student or teacher reflecting a positive
attitude in the form of sportsmanship,
generosity, or being respectful to their
peers earns a bee in their name on the
school board. They will also be doing
various activities throughout the year
to promote the theme.
With an intent to be inspirational and
have each story encourage others within
the school to be more considerate,
thankful and supportive of each other
at every turn, the school theme hopes to
inculcate positive and healthy relation-
ship skills among the students while at
the same time forming responsible and
enduring societal values. As Mrs. Wein-
stein, the first-grade homeroom teacher
puts it, “the kids are motivated to exceed
their own expectations of what a good
deed may be. They aspire to reach out
to more people around them each time
they think they can extend a hand or
just say a kind word. The students are
making an effort to go above and be-
yond their own classmates and spread
positivity among the whole school.”
Besides the annual school theme,
Queen of Apostles also has the school-
wide learning expectations that form
the corner stone of its mission. These
include being caring Christians, active
learners, healthy individuals and self
confident and responsible individu-
als. Coupled with the school theme of
thinking and being positive always, the
thought they would like to leave the
students with is to ultimately develop
an appreciation for their blessings in
the form of school, community and
family, and take responsibility for
their actions and never give up on their
Catholic values.
Mrs. Weinstein, first grade teacher, ex-
plaining the significance of positivity to her
students and pinning a name on the board.
Father Greg Boyle Transforms Thanks into Action
By Farrah Ballou ’19
Archbishop Mitty High School
Thanksgiving is a holiday centered
around giving thanks and recognizing
the blessings in our lives. I believe that
thanks is better expressed through
actions than words. Thankfulness has
two parts: recognition and action. We
are called to give thanks for blessings,
while simultaneously helping others at-
tain a life that they can be thankful for.
Father Greg Boyle, founder of Home-
boy Industries, an institution in East
Los Angeles that focuses on reintegrat-
ing ex-gang members into society, was
the guest speaker at the Thanksgiving
Liturgy this week and is one person
who puts his thanks into actions and
not just words. Years ago, he realized
the increasing dangers and marginal-
ization that was occurring in areas with
gangs. Instead of just feeling guilty for
his blessings and sad for these commu-
nities, he used his emotions to trigger
action, leading to the creation of Home-
boys. The nonprofit’s mission focuses
on being in kinship with all people and
that every person should be accounted
for, respected, and loved. His dedica-
tion to service exemplifies that through
work we can produce tangible change.
At Archbishop Mitty High School,
Saint Nicholas School Celebrates Diversity
with Multicultural Feast
Last month Mrs. Wilson’s fifth grade
class at Saint Nicholas School held a
Multicultural Feast, celebrating diver-
sity in their classroom and exploring one
another’s favorite ethnic dishes.
The students each prepared their
own dish (with some help from their
parents), which some have been deep
family traditions brought from Italy,
France, Belgium, China and all over
the world.
“Despite having a lot of things in
common, it’s nice to celebrate the diver-
sity in our classroom through our vari-
ous cultural backgrounds. Celebrating
with food is always a treat,” explained
Mrs. Wilson. Hearing the students ex-
plore their cultures with one another
was a great learning opportunity, as
well as to venture outside their indi-
vidual ethnic region.
An impressive component of the
Multicultural Feast was the cultural
Fifth graders at Saint Nicholas School held
a Multicultural Feast to celebrate diversity.
quilt, which showcased each student’s
ethnic background, stitched together
to illustrate that while we all originate
from various cultures and backgrounds,
we are also united as one, like the fifth
grade class clearly demonstrated.
Mrs. Wilson and her fifth grade stu-
dents showed that celebrating diversity
and learning about each other’s culture
in the classroom is extremely important,
as it is a rewarding experience for our
Saint Nicholas students.
every student is taught to give thanks
by taking action. We are urged to find
ways to change the harsh realities of
world. We are grounded and con-
stantly reminded of our numerous
blessings, especially when seeing the
brutal struggles that millions face
every day. From Freshman Day of
Service to Archbishop Mitty’s Advo-
cacy Project, students are constantly
working to make our community
better, putting our thanks into action.
Even the school’s recent Spirit Week
focused on uniting the school with
spirit, while also reminding students
of the importance of giving back. Dur-
ing Spirit Week, classes competed with
one another in a multitude of events
to represent their school spirit. One
of the activities was a competition to
see which class would be the first to
meet a donations goal for a local food
bank. Even in times of competition,
Archbishop Mitty reminds students
to see past their bubbles of opportuni-
ties and encourages them to put their
thanks back into the community.
Thanks in action is a simple idea—
taking the blessings we have been
given, recognizing them, and taking
them a step further by showing our
gratitude. This Thanksgiving, don’t
just utter your thanks, but be like Fa-
ther Greg Boyle and take action.
First Graders Trade Textbooks for Pumpkins
at Saint Lawrence Elementary and Middle School
Every year the incoming first grad-
ers at Saint Lawrence Elementary and
Middle School look forward to their
gooey math lessons on Halloween! First
graders were excited to put down the
books and pick up a pumpkin for their
math lesson!
Students in Mrs. Gorham’s first
grade class worked in pairs to measure
the circumference of their pumpkins,
count line segments on their pumpkins,
and weigh every pumpkin. The stu-
dents enjoyed getting sticky while they
dissected their pumpkins and counted
each and every seed! Some students
chose to group their seeds into groups
of ten, making it easier to count. One
impressive first grader exclaimed, “I
counted 240 seeds already!” That’s a
big number for first grade!
Upper grade students loved peek-
ing outside to watch their younger
peers engage in such a hands on les-
son! A fourth grader stated, “When I
saw my first grade sister come home
with pumpkin on her pants, I remem-
bered the fun time I had in first grade
counting pumpkin seeds with Mrs.
Gorham.”