The Diocese of Little Rock has 30 Catholic schools and many of those schools will offer special events and Masses Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 to observe Catholic Schools Week.
All week, each campus will pray a decade of the rosary every day, food will be collected for the poor and a Loose Change Drive will be held. The students will create cards for shut-ins, the sick, endowment fund supporters and for other Catholic schools offering support and unity through prayer. On Jan. 27 students will be encouraged to wear their uniforms to Mass, the school will be promoted and the students will sing and be ushers and gift bearers at the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
The school will be focusing on faith, the new year, the community, students, nation and vocations. On Sunday, Jan. 27 a school Mass will be held at 9 a.m. All students will write thank-you cards to parishioners to be handed out at the Mass. A pancake breakfast will be served from 8-11 a.m. Mayor Sandy Sanders will visit the school Monday. On Tuesday students will have free dress. On Wednesday the school will be focused on vocations. On Thursday, students are allowed to wear red, white and blue. On Friday staff members with 10 years or more years at the school will be recognized. That afternoon the school will kick off its first Amazing Race for students, followed by a 1950s dance that evening.
The week will begin with students singing and performing liturgical ministries at Mass Sunday with a pancake breakfast to follow. Monday is Grandparents’ Day, Mayor Sandy Sanders will kick off the week with a proclamation and the Catholic Schools Week contest will be announced. Tuesday evening, the school will host an open house. Wednesday is “pajama day,” and students will create projects to show appreciation to their families. Thursday, a blood drive will take place. Friday will be Spirit Day with Mass and fun activities.
A free chili supper for all families will be served at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 27. Each class will decorate their doors with the theme of “What Trinity Offers Me.” Each day will be a different “dress” from school spirit, colors day, sleep-in day and uniforms. Family members serving in the military will be invited to have lunch, vocation speakers will visit classrooms, and donations will be collected for three charities. Feb. 2 will be Celebrate Trinity!, the school’s biggest fundraiser for the year that includes silent and live auction items, dancing, games, catered meals and beverages.
The opening Mass at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 27 will feature students as lectors, gift bearers, servers and greeters. Following the Mass, the annual German luncheon will be served. On Monday, Jan. 28 for Community Service Day students will undertake various service projects. On Jan, 29, student appreciation will be celebrated with Pajama Day, a Brian Kinder concert and a special movie. It is also Spirit Night at Chuck E. Cheese’s. On Jan. 30 the school will celebrate Community Appreciation and School Spirit Day.
The school will have an all-school rosary at 8 a.m. Jan. 28. The service project will be collecting money and items for St. John Church in Haiti. A special program about adoration will be presented by Taffy Council. It will also be 1950s dress-up day. Students will have a rosary-making workshop Tuesday, making rosary bracelets for parents and for Haiti, followed by a Catherine McAuley (founder of the Sisters of Mercy) Tea Party. Wednesday is Sports Day and includes the annual Faculty v. Middle School Volleyball Tournament. Friday will feature an all-school Mass, adoration, talent show and skating party.
Sacred Heart School will kick off the week with student-led ministries at Sunday Mass. Other school-wide activities for the week will include a living rosary, making Valentine cards for area nursing home residents, Catholic trivia game and mini-course activities.
The week will include an open house for prospective students Jan. 27. Through the week the school will be collecting shoes for a service project for “Clean Water for Uganda” and students will be writing thank-you cards to the volunteers. Students will be making prayer chain that will be hung throughout the school. The talent show will be held Thursday and Falcon Pride Friday will include a school-wide conga line. On Saturday, the PTO will host a family dinner and talent show.
Parents and grandparents are invited to lunch. Students will enjoy a movie and popcorn on Friday. School night at McDonald’s will be Wednesday evening with the fifth- and sixth-grade students refilling drinks and cleaning tables. Volunteers and community members are invited to a nacho buffet lunch Jan. 25. Mass Feb. 2 will conclude the week. Students will participate by being lectors, ushers, gift bearers, servers and choir members.
The week will begin Sunday with the 10:45 a.m. Mass with a special blessing for faculty, staff and students. On Wednesday, the school will take a pilgrimage to Christ the King Church in Fort Smith where the students will get a tour, attend Mass and Subiaco monks will make vocations presentations. The Jazz Ensemble will perform at St. Boniface and Christ the King Schools in Fort Smith Thursday. The week will conclude with a Year of Faith prayer service and a movie.
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