Portland St. Patrick Catholic School

The first quarter of the school year is behind us.  Parent-teacher conferences have been held and the ink is barely dry on the report cards.  I would like to highlight some accomplishments of our students that occurred since the start of the school year.

One of the goals of our school is to have full participation of the students at our weekly Mass.  We have made this a top priority as we believe the celebration of the Eucharist is the most important event in the universe and the reason our school exists.  This past week our junior and senior boys volunteered to lead the singing at Mass.  They were joined by five 6th grade students and for the first time we had an all male group lead the singing at Mass.  They did an outstanding job.  One individual commented that “it was like going to Mass at the Cathedral. “  These students demonstrated great leadership and provided a wonderful example for our younger students.

The high school Student Council and National Honor Society members have combined to help the American Red Cross with a blood drive.  Another blood drive had been scheduled elsewhere but was cancelled.  On very short notice, our students managed to get the blood drive scheduled and sign up students to work at the drive.  They are also working hard to ensure all time slots will be filled with individuals donating blood on Thursday, November 5.

We are currently interviewing for a high school teacher.  In a conversation with two of our seniors, one of them stated that “she would really like to sit in on those interviews.”  I asked her to be a part of our interview team.  She agreed to serve on the team and has proven to be an extremely valuable member providing us with insights from a different perspective.

There have been several times over the past two weeks when National Honor Society members have stopped by my office and asked if there were any younger students in need of tutoring.  They agreed to volunteer their time after school to assist with the younger students if I could point then in the direction of any who were in need of extra assistance.

Finally, this Wednesday, our high school students have an opportunity to have a retreat day.  Although our Catholic faith is infused into our everyday curriculum, it’s important we allow students to further our spiritual mission and experience God’s work outside of the classroom.  The freshmen class will travel to Aquinas College and spend the day with a group of dedicated Aquinas College students called the AQ Light Team.  The sophomores and juniors will be at the Conservation Club with the National Evangelization Team (NET).  The seniors will travel to the Dewitt Retreat Center for their retreat.

We are proud of all our students have accomplished in the first marking period of the school year.  It is great to see them taking ownership of their own education and stepping up and taking on leadership roles in our school.