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December 11, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
There’s No Place Like Archbishop Mitty For the Holidays
By Joanna Jain ’19
The tree in the center of campus is
decked out in red and green streamers,
which can only mean one thing: it’s
Christmastime at Archbishop Mitty
High School. With the start of the
Christmas season, Monarchs have
focused on extending a sense of com-
munity to the marginalized.
This year, the annual Advent Liturgy
fell on the feast day for Our Lady of
Guadalupe and focused on her story.
The patron saint of the Americas, Our
Lady of Guadalupe carries a message
of love for the most humble members
of society, one that we as a community
have worked to embody this Christmas
season. Senior Maritza Robles delivered
a powerful reflection at the liturgy, shar-
ing what the feast day means to her and
her family and inviting us all to see the
ways Mary’s spirit continues to mani-
fest in our lives. During Advent, we
continue to find inspiration in Mary’s
“yes” to becoming the mother of God,
despite probably feeling a lot of fear.
At Christmas, the story of Our Lady of
Guadalupe and Juan Diego is another
beautiful reminder of how God is with
us, especially in our times of greatest
need. Liturgies, like this one, serve to
unite the school community with a
common message, especially during
the holidays.
Admittedly, December can be a
stressful time for students: with finals,
college applications, and the end of the
semester looming, there doesn’t seem
to be room for much else. Yet despite
all this, Monarchs have been living out
a message of solidarity this Christmas
season in a multitude of ways both on
and off campus, working to extend a
sense of community to the world be-
yond our walls.
Perhaps one of the most significant
ways in which Archbishop Mitty stu-
dents participate in living out the Ad-
vent theme of solidarity is by taking part
in the annual Teens for Teens Christmas
drive. This year, students donated items
ranging from clothing to card games.
California Scholarship Federation (CSF)
members, coordinated by Counselor
Mrs. Falcone, joined the American As-
sociation of University Women at the
Gifts for Teens headquarters to sort and
package all the donations, which were
then distributed to underprivileged
teens across the Bay Area by Sacred
Heart Community Services and other
local agencies. In donating both mate-
rials and time to the Teens for Teens
Drive, Archbishop Mitty students dem-
onstrated goodwill to those who needed
it the most, standing in solidarity with
impoverished teenagers in the Bay Area.
High school stress aside, Monarchs have
been striving to see the bigger picture
this Christmas, building on Our Lady
of Guadalupe’s example by extending
a sense of community to the most vul-
nerable groups in society during the
holiday season.
Holy Spirit Mini Mermaids and Young Tritons: The Finish Line is Just the Beginning
Holy Spirit School stresses the importance of faith,
knowledge and community inside and outside of
the classroom in a myriad of ways. One such way is
through the Mini Mermaid and Young Triton Run-
ning Clubs. Teachers and parents partner to teach
young boys and girls about the benefits of running,
but more importantly, the coaching develops a deeper
understanding of each child’s self-worth and a prac-
tice of compassion for others. Participants and their
coaches run a lot, journal a bit, participate in service
projects and learn that they are capable of more than
what others perceive. The program encourages chil-
dren to understand their worth, trust their capabilities
and improve their view of themselves in an effort to
empower them to make good choices.
The Mermaids and Tritons at Holy Spirit School
ended their season this year by participating in the
Run.Sweat.Love. 5K with their community in Santa
Clara County. They ran side by side with boys and
girls from diverse schools, with varied social and
economic backgrounds. They all pushed themselves
and completed the run with smiles and confidence
while standing tall for themselves and others. The
curriculum brought to Holy Spirit School through
the Young Triton and Mini Mermaid Running Clubs
shows students that the finish line is just the begin-
ning! (Mini Mermaid Coach Gina Bianchi contributed
this article.)
VMware Donates 90 Laptops
to Saint Nicholas School
Calling all Journalists!
Participate in The Valley Catholic
Young Journalists Group
The Valley Catholic Young Journalists Group is a team of high school journal-
ists who are passionate about retelling such stories through priests, ordinary
people and religious events. The mission is to share anecdotes of faith and
experiences of God in people’s lives, specifically aiming to connect with fel-
low Catholic youth.
If you enjoy writing, telling stories, and are active in your parish, come
join this group!
For more information or to share a story, please contact Justin Chung at
[email protected].
Practicing hospitality and express-
ing such words of thanks took both
the staff and students to the test when
VMware, a global leader in cloud infra-
structure and workspace technology,
donated 90 laptops to Saint Nicho-
las’ junior high classrooms over the
Summer- estimated at approximately
$135,000! From this wonderful dona-
tion, students can now collaborate with
other technological advancements in
the classroom. Compared to the previ-
ous laptops, this new solution offers
the very best to fit our student’s needs.
Already being a 1:1 iPad environment,
our students can be found captur-
ing live video for a Photo Journalism
elective, creating content for regular
Student Council videos, or a classroom
project. However, with the addition of
the new laptops, students can utilize
post-production with its ability to run
our video editing programs with ease.
Our students are blessed and grateful
to have so many devices at their fin-
gertips to create, collaborate and com-
municate with our community.