
The Archdiocese of Louisville’s Catholic Schools joined the nationwide celebration of Catholic Schools Week Jan. 26-Feb. 1. The national theme for the week is “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.”
On Jan. 26, student representatives of the archdiocese’s 48 Catholic elementary and secondary schools gathered for the annual Catholic Schools Week Mass at St. Margaret Mary Church. Throughout the week, schools also celebrated with service projects, eucharistic adoration and other activities.
This year, some schools chose to include vocation awareness in the celebrations.
“Since it’s Catholic Schools Week and discerning one’s vocation is a huge part of being Catholic, we thought having a mini Vocation Day at the center of our Catholic Schools Week activities would be perfect,” said Justin Fout, principal of Immaculata Classical Academy.
The school hosted a vocation presentation — in which the students heard from priests, seminarians and religious — on Jan. 29.
“We hope our students will pray and ask God what he wants of them in this life and be open to the priesthood and religious life,” Fout said.
DeSales High School students participated in a luncheon celebrating vocations. And other schools, including Bethlehem High School and Sacred Heart Model School, offered gratitude to priests and seminarians through letter-writing.
Bethlehem students planned to write thank-you letters Jan. 30 to “their home parish priest, their grade school chaplain or their current chaplain,” who “made an impact on them,” said Derek Hayden, campus minister and religion teacher at Bethlehem.
One of the elements that makes Catholic schools special is the priests, who “shape our students into who they are,” said Hayden.
Each school celebrated the week with various activities. Following is a sampling of activities reported by schools around the archdiocese:
- Our Lady of Lourdes School students held a diaper drive to benefit St. Bernadette’s Diaper Bank. The students also participated in service projects, including “making care sacks for the homeless, small fleece tie blankets for the Humane Society, Valentine’s wreaths for nursing home residents, containers filled with treats for the St. Matthews Police Department, and more,” according to the release.
- Sacred Heart Model School decorated wooden crosses for members of the community “who make a difference on campus,” according to the release. To celebrate vocations, the students wrote letters to seminarians.
- Sacred Heart Academy students attended Mass on Jan. 27 “to celebrate the feast of St. Angela, the foundress of the Ursuline Sisters,” according to the school. Student council leaders participated in a reception with the Ursuline Sisters afterward. The school’s campus ministry also planned a high school worship night for Louisville Catholic high school students on Jan. 30. “The students will hear, reflect, and discuss scripture, followed by a service project,” according to the release.
- St. Aloysius School students, families, teachers and staff participated in Mass on Jan. 26 to kick off the week. The school also hosted a student-teacher volleyball game.
- St. Francis of Assisi School celebrated the “100th day of school in their 100th year in their building during Catholic School’s Week,” according to the release. Students also held a sock drive for Hip Hop Cares.
- St. James School in Elizabethtown, Ky., hosted a “Faith Rally,” which included “learning about saints, a service project, eucharistic procession and adoration, and music from the PJ Anderson Band from Nashville,” according to the release. Students also participated in a service project for Room at the Inn.
- Bethlehem students held a penny war to benefit the Bread for Life Food Pantry. The school’s liturgical choir participated in Mass on Jan. 26 at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral. The students also participated in adoration, in addition to highlighting vocations.
- Immaculata Classical Academy students participated in a eucharistic procession and adoration in addition to the Vocation Day.
