Values for a Lifetime

The 115 Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the greater Cincinnati area will mark the 36th annual Catholic Schools Week, January 31 through February 6, with a full plate of fun and inspirational activities as they celebrate the theme “Catholic Schools – Dividends for Life.” Some examples:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29:
In a prologue to Catholic Schools Week, Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr will celebrate an all-school Mass at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Milford at 9:30 a.m. The students attend St. Andrew – St. Elizabeth Seton Consolidated School.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31:
Many schools start the week with a Sunday open house.  At Guardian Angels School in Mt. Lookout, this will include a Science Fair in the Parish Center Gym at 1:15 p.m. (Contact: Pat Gallion, 513-624-3141.)  A distinguished graduate of St. Thomas More School in Withamsville will be honored at the parish’s 10 a.m. Mass, featuring the Children’s Choir, followed by a reception in the Parish Dining Room. (Contact: Peg Fischer, 513-753-2540.) Students and staff of St. Boniface School in Northside will pass out a Certificate of Investment to parishioners of St. Boniface Church attending Mass over the weekend, thanking them for their support of Catholic education. (Contact: Rosemary Welz, 513-541-5122.)   

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1:
It’s Turnaround Day at St. Aloysius on the Ohio in Sayler Park, where teachers and eighth grade students will swap places from 8 to 11 a.m. JoAnn Trimpe, author of the cookbook “Holy Chow,” will provide lunch for the staff. (Conact: Ed Jung, 513-941-7831.)  Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Reading, which is closing at the end of the school year, will have an assembly at 1 p.m. in the Activity Center to hear presentations about the founding of the school and by the architect who designed the unique round school. (Conact: Jo Anne Fischesser, 513-733-5225.)  St. Michael School in Sharonville is having a Day of Recollection, culminating with a performance by Christian juggler David Cain at 1:30 p.m. All week long St. Michael students will be collecting receiving blankets, pacifiers, bottles, clothes, diapers, wipes, baby food and formula to be donated to Elizabeth New Life Center in Lebanon. (Contact: Jody Farrell, 513-554-3557.)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2: 
John Paul II Catholic School in Finneytown calls this “Hats Off to Catholic Schools,” but actually it’s a day when students are permitted to wear hats to school. (Contact Leonora Roach, 513-521-0860. Students at St. John the Baptist School in Dry Ridge will have an out-of-uniform day, no homework and a sock hop sponsored by the Parent Teacher Organization.  (Contact Richard Harrmann, 513-385-7970.)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3:
Archbishop Schnurr presides at a special 10 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains in downtown Cincinnati with more than 1,000 students and guests in attendance. Churches throughout the Archdiocese will ring their bells at 10 a.m. to celebrate Catholic schools.  

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4:
Our Lady of Victory School in Delhi Township will hold a concert at 7:15 p.m. in the Church with composer and musician Paul Tate and the Victory Adult and Youth Choirs.  (Contact Megan Garrity, garritym@olv-school.org  or 513-922-4460.) Former students of St. Louis School in Owensville will return to talk to students about how their Catholic education brought them “Dividends for Life.” (Contact: Peg Hunsberger, 513-732-0636.)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5: 
Royalmont Academy in Mason will bless its newly-designated Christ the King Oratory (worship space) as part of its regular First Friday Mass. (Contact Pam Jubara, 513-754-0555.) Sts. Peter and Paul Academy in Reading will hold its second annual talent show at 1 p.m. in the gymnasium. (Contact: Glenda Donnelly, 513-761-7772.)   (NOTE: Both Royalmont and Sts. Peter and Paul Academies were only recently recognized by the Archdiocese as Catholic schools.) At St. Ignatius Loyola School in Monfort Heights, students will write to their parents thanking them for a Catholic education; they will also decorate a “St. Ignatius Dollar Bill” in keeping with the theme “Dividends for Life.” (Contact: Laura Sieve, 513-389-3242.)  At John XXIII School in Middletown, students will bring in all of their favorite books and spend the morning reading. At lunch time their parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers or any other “Very Important Person” will join them for lunch. (Contact Brenda Neu, 513-424-1196.)

Other schools throughout the Archdiocese will have lunches for parents, grandparents, teachers and volunteers; special decorations; out of uniform days; carnivals; art and science fairs; talent shows; student-faculty volleyball games, and other programs.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 26th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with almost 500,000 Catholics, and has the eighth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of enrollment – 44,922 students for the 2009-2010 school year.