Knight Life | Page 5

Left: Saint Patrick (Nash Powers) and Saint Francis of Assisi (Beckman Nobles) fill the hallways with holiness as they explain about their lives to the younger students.

Right: St. Andre Besset (Malec Chambers) and St. Stephen (Gage Smith) eagerly await the reception prepared for them by the 5th grade room mothers.

Back in the Habit

On November 1 Catholics around the world attend mass in celebration of all of the Saints in Heaven. At Notre Dame Catholic School, when All Saints Day rolls around, students from the upper and lower campuses have the opportunity to get a bit more up close and personal with many of these celebrated saints. For multiple decades, Notre Dame students, family and faculty have been treated to a highly anticipated representation of some of their favorite Saints by the lower campus’s fifth grade class.

The Fifth Grade All Saints Day Project has been debuted on the mass day following All Saints day for three decades. However, this is not a project that can be finished over-night; With the guidance of fifth grade teacher Cyndi Trivette, students in the fifth grade class spend the entire month of October researching over twenty Saints. Once each student has narrowed these twenty down to (Saints cont. on pag 6) then delve into exploring each of them in order to decide on the one saint that is best suited to them. Trivette says that the students are then encouraged to pick one that is similar to themselves; this helps them connect with the saint and see the possibilities in the project: “By researching and understanding a Saints life, the students are then able to see that they could be like that saint one day.” says Trivette. Celia Vasquez a fifth grader who participated in the project this year said she chose Saint Cecilia “ because she reminded me of myself. She loved God, and loved music and singing.”

The students then write an essay answering the question “Who am I?” from the point-of-view of their chosen saint. Although Vasquez considered this to be “the hardest thing” because of the amount of writing she had to do, this enabled her to learn many new things about St. Cecilia.

This project not only allows students to gain new knowledge about the saints lives but allows them to become a saint-for-a-day. Fifth grader Beckham Nobles who chose St. Francis of Assisi enjoyed the experience of introducing others to his saint by way of imitation: “I really like the idea of dressing up and showing everyone a saint. Learning new things about the Saints is fun!” Nobles also noted that everyone should learn about St. Francis of Assisi because “He really loved God. He was really amazing, really holy, and performed many miracles, like when he spoke to the wolf, and the wolf listened.” The wolf happens to be Nobles’ favorite animal, yet another cool connection between the 13th century mystic and his young admirer.

Mary Brady, alumna of Notre Dame and current 4k teacher, reflected on her time participating in the project as St. Lucy saying: “I liked learning about Saint Lucy, and I liked making the costume and objects that Saint Lucy is often pictured with which is a plate with eyes on it.” Brady also believes that Saint Lucy is a great example of faith and perseverance in the midst of persecution. Junior at the Notre Dame Upper Campus, Mary Grace Wallig in remembering her experiences as part of the fifth grade project says “There’s no better way to start off November then to see the fifth graders of now doing the same project I did when I was their age.”

According to Vasquez, everyone should learn about St. Cecilia because, “everyone should be growing up to love God.” Ultimately, the Saints teach us how to glorify God in our everyday lives. Learning, dressing up, and having fun is Notre Dame’s part in honoring those holy men and women so as to be inspired to be holy throughout the year.

St. John the Baptist (Grayson Saenz), St. Cecilia (Celia Vasquez) , St. Anne (Adyson Koetter), St. Stephen, and St. Genevieve (Lucy Parker) lead liturgical singing on All Saints' Day.