By Mignonne Frantzen
For Today’s Catholic
St. Mary’s students shared with the Fredericksburg community how students in Catholic school learn.serve.lead.succeed., the theme for the 2018 Catholic Schools Week which was observed Jan. 28-Feb. 3.
The students kicked off the celebration the week before by a walking parade down Main Street Fredericksburg on Feb. 25. Children hand delivered letters from Principal John Mein to local businesses thanking the community for their support of SMS.
Catholic Schools Week began with students in uniform being blessed by Father Jeff Pehl during Sunday Mass. Students, alumni, parents, parishioners, and local community members kicked off the week with a parade on Monday that featured everything from bicycles to vintage cars and a vintage fire truck from the city of Fredericksburg.
Tuesday celebrated the students. A school-wide Zumba party was held, students had a picnic lunch with their SMS buddy, a program unique to St. Mary’s in which a younger student is paired with an older student for the year, and the day concluded with a local jazz pianist entertaining the students with music and praise.
Wednesday was a highlight as the school honored the nation. The second-grade class presented American history icons in a student wax museum. Third graders read their newly published book for guests that they authored and illustrated. At noon, the school assembled in red, white and blue clothing on the football field for a patriotic program led by the junior high students. The program concluded with a three-plane fly over from the International Bird Dog Association. Students ended the day by competing in the National Geographic Geography Bee and a new student was named champion for 2018.
St. Mary’s hosted families for a luncheon on Thursday, and junior high students gave presentations on vocations and careers for future thought. The week concluded on Friday with academic awards.
Principal John Mein said, “Catholic Schools Week is a great opportunity for St. Mary’s to showcase all the things that make us who we are — our learning environment, our students, and teachers, our families, our community. We have the opportunity to celebrate our mission, ‘to inspire a lifelong love of God and service to neighbor,’ as well as celebrating the great support we have from our various communities. It’s the kind of week, that when it’s over, I sit back, put up my feet, and thank God for what a blessing it is to be the principal at St. Mary’s School.”
To know more about St. Mary’s Catholic School visit the website at www.stmarysfbg.com or call (830) 997-3914 for a tour.