Catholic Schools Week a time to celebrate, honor, serve

Schools to host special guests and honor teachers, parents and community leaders

Published: January 29, 2016

Students at Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock celebrated Catholic Schools Week in January 2015 with a variety of activities and service projects. Fourth-grader Grace Carman is pictured with the 309 soup cans collected in the school’s “Souper Bowl” to benefit local food pantries.

Catholic Schools Week is celebrated nationally Jan. 31 to Feb. 6. Many schools will host special activities and guests and honor their teachers, parents and community leaders.

Benton

Our Lady of Fatima
A prayer service and adoration will begin the week on Monday. Guardian Angel Day with the preschool children and older students will be held Tuesday. On Wednesday students can wear beach clothes and play bingo. A collection for New Beginnings Pregnancy Center will be held Thursday. On Friday students can wear comfy clothes and donate money to the Children’s Leukemia Society.

Conway

St. Joseph
The week will begin with Mass and students participating during the liturgy. Donut Man will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 and for the school Feb. 1. On Tuesday students can dress for success in business attire. Collections for local shelters will be taken up. Grandparents Day will be celebrated on Wednesday and on Thursday students will wear school colors. On Friday the faculty and staff will be honored.

Fort Smith

Christ the King
A talent show will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 to kick off the week. A PTO pancake breakfast will be served from 8-11 a.m. Sunday in the parish center. A children Mass will follow at 11:30 a.m. Mayor Sandy Sanders will visit the school on Monday along with the Fire Department and other community leaders. Brian Kinder will perform Tuesday and the school will join the rosary balloon launch at 2 p.m. The Rosary for Peace will be prayed at 2 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, the student council will deliver gifts to parents, and staff with 10 or more years of experience will be recognized.

Immaculate Conception
On Sunday Immaculate Conception School will have 10 a.m. Mass, brunch and art show and then an open house from 12:30 to 2 p.m. for perspective families. On Monday the school will celebrate Grandperson’s Day with a breakfast and book fair. Tuesday there will be a balloon rosary launch at 2 p.m. on the field and end the day with Family Spirit Night at Larry’s Pizza. On Wednesday the school will support Heart to Heart Pregnancy Resource Center with a diaper parade bringing them the diapers and wipes students have collected. On Thursday the faculty and staff will be honored with a special lunch. On Friday afternoon, there will be fun and games in the gym.

St. Boniface
An open house will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. A German lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students can wear crazy hair or hats on Monday and mismatched clothes on Tuesday. A community luncheon will be served Tuesday for “outstanding citizens” in the parish and community. A living rosary will be held Wednesday and pastor Father Jason Sharbaugh will bless the school.

Trinity Junior High
A free chili supper will be served from 5-6:30 p.m. Sunday and the band, cheerleaders and dance team will perform. On Monday eighth graders will assist the first graders with a service project. On Tuesday a balloon rosary lunch will be held along with the other Catholic schools in the city at 2 p.m. Students will be asked to bring $3 to support the scholarship fund. Sister Kimberly Prohaska, OSB, and Brother Francis Kirchner, OSB, will visit all religion classes on Thursday. The Divine Mercy chaplet will be prayed on Friday.

Hot Springs

St. John
At St. John School an all-school interactive rosary at the beginning of the week. The focus will be “celebrating our community.” Monday will be “Favorite Book Character or Author” dress-up day. Tuesday, SJS will hold an open house from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for prospective students. In addition, an appreciation luncheon for family and friends will be held. A Catholic Quiz Bowl will be held in the afternoon. The annual fifth-eighth grade volleyball tournament will be held on Wednesday. The winners play the teachers. Thursday will be Warm and Fuzzy Day and in the afternoon students will enjoy a movie or board game. Friday begins with an all-school Mass followed by the annual talent show.

Little Rock

Christ the King
Catholic Schools Week will kick off with students wearing their CTK spirit wear to Mass Jan. 31. Monday is Spirit Day. Student ambassadors will also deliver donuts to school “neighbors.” Tuesday the “Donut Man” will have a concert for lower grades, but all students will get donuts. Wednesday will be Super Hero/Disney Princess Day. Thursday the school will honor teachers at a teachers’ luncheon. Friday at 1:30 p.m. is the annual student-teacher volleyball game, with a half-time performance by the Little Bear cheerleaders.

St. Edward
On Jan. 31 the week will begin with a children’s Mass followed by a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Men’s Club. Students will serve as lectors, ushers, gift bearers and choir members. Students will collect “Pennies for Patients” to support research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Students will enjoy a special breakfast Tuesday sponsored by the PTO and a “free dress” day in 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s attire. Family and friends are invited to a special lunch Wednesday. The annual teacher-student volleyball game will be played Thursday. Classrooms will prepare care packages for St. Edward seminarians Thursday. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate the all-school Mass Friday.

St. Theresa
On Monday there will be an all-school living rosary at 9 a.m. in the church. On Tuesday, students and teachers will dress as their favorite TV, movie or advertising character. On Wednesday, students will compete in various brain games and activities. Thursday, students and teachers can indulge in some comfy reading time, and the junior high will have a poetry slam. On Soup-er Bowl Friday, students and teachers will dress in their favorite sports attire and donate canned food for the church food pantry. To conclude the week, on Saturday, Feb. 6, all school families are encouraged to attend the 4 p.m. Mass, with a father-daughter dance following.

Morrilton

Sacred Heart
On Sunday students will lead ministries during Mass and an open house will be held after Mass. On Monday students will make blessing bags for Abundant Life Pregnancy Resource Center. On Tuesday mini-course activities will be held in the community and on campus. On Thursday a living rosary will be held for all kindergarten to 12th graders. On Friday the students will participate in a scavenger hunt.

North Little Rock

Immaculate Conception
A PTO pancake breakfast will be held Sunday, Jan. 31 from 8-11 a.m. IC will also host an open house from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for prospective families. On Tuesday the eighth-grade boys and the school faculty will meet center court for the second annual student-faculty volleyball game with seventh and eighth-grade girls coaching and refereeing. On Wednesday, an all-school Mass and blessing of throats will be held. For “Souper Hero Thursday” each student will bring in a can of soup to be donated to local food pantries. The talent show takes place on Thursday as well. The annual “School Conga Line” around and through the school campus will end the week.

Paragould

St. Mary
Parents and grandparents will be invited every day to have lunch at the school. There also will be a book fair in the library every day. Students will enjoy a school “dance” the last hour of school Friday. All are invited to participate in school night at Marco’s Pizza on Tuesday. The week will conclude with Mass Saturday, Feb. 6 with students taking liturgical roles in Mass and providing the music.

Paris

St. Joseph
On Monday a special Mass will be offered by Father Mark Stengel, OSB, of Subiaco Abbey. The mayor will sign a special Catholic Schools Week proclamation. Father Stengel will bring some monks with him and they will visit with classes after Mass.

On Tuesday, several sisters from St. Scholastica Monastery will visit with students. Parents are invited for lunch with students on Monday and Tuesday. All students will be given a special armband to wear all week. On Wednesday, students will sing at the local nursing home and family fun night will be held. On Friday students will go to the Clarksville Cinema to see “Norm of the North.” Upon returning they will pray a rosary.

Russellville

St. John
Students will take up the gifts and sing in the choir for Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. An open house will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Monday students will be asked to bring adult socks for the Stella Manor Nursing Home. A flag-raising ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. where Mayor Randy Horton will proclaim the special week in the city. On Tuesday students can dress up as their future careers. Fifth graders will play “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” with parents. Vocations talks will be held on Wednesday. Local law enforcement will be honored at the school on Thursday during a flag-raising ceremony.

Stuttgart

Holy Rosary
A Souper Bowl will be held Monday to collect soup and canned food for the local food pantry. On Tuesday the students will wear their favorite football jersey and will have show and tell. Goody baskets will be taken to community leaders on Wednesday and Valentines will be created for nursing home residents. On Thursday a talent show will be held and students can dress up as their future career.

Subiaco

Subiaco Academy
On Sunday a special Mass with the monastic community will be celebrated. The Subiaco Parents’ Association will sponsor a teacher appreciation luncheon and ice cream social for the students on Wednesday. Mass and the blessing of throats in the tradition of St. Blaise also will be held. After supper Kansas City blues artist Danielle Nicole will present a show for the community.

“The Good Lie” starring Reese Witherspoon will be screened for the student body on Thursday afternoon. The week’s activities will conclude with the annual pilgrimage. This year the entire student body is walking 11 miles to St. Scholastica Church at Shoal Creek.

Click for the Catholic Schools Herald, January 2016 index