Striving for Sainthood at St. Mary's School, Caledonia

Submitted by REBECCA STUTZMAN

St. Mary’s School in Caledonia has had an exciting, eventful, and knowledgeable school year! The theme for this school year is “Students Striving for Sainthood”. Each month students learn how they can become more like the saints before us. Saints are not just people of the past, they are role models for us! All Christians are called to be saints. Catholic saints used their strong faith to overcome challenges, guide their lives’, and lead their spiritual journey. They had positive character traits that helped them be more Christ-like. We too, can become more Christ-like by imitating and developing these character traits. Each month, the school focuses on a quality and a story of a saint.

Throughout the school year students, teachers, and staff members have been grateful to have several opportunities for both learning and fun! We had a very successful Marathon which concluded with an afternoon of celebrations. We had an all-school scarecrow decorating contest and hosted a SOUPer Bowl soup drive. Each grade also has an upcoming spring field trip to celebrate all the hard work they have done this year!

The St. Mary’s Student Council Team has put in a lot of time and effort to plan events and activities for the school. They have led trivia days, dress up days, and gave back to the community with a very successful Penny Wars to raise money for our local Thanksgiving dinner. They also hosted a Winter Snowball Fun Night and are currently working on a Spring Middle School Dance.

Catholic Schools Week was celebrated with lots of energy and school spirit! Throughout the week students participated in different whole-school activities. We kicked off the week with a Pancake Breakfast and continued on with the Four Corners Game, Cornhole Tournament, Olympics, making tie blankets for the local assisted living facility, and BINGO! The week ended with a Snowball Fun Night for St. Mary’s students and families and Mass with Bishop Barron.

The Believe and Read program is in our second year in our kindergarten through second grade classrooms and in our first year being implemented in our third grade classroom. We have seen phenomenal growth with our students throughout these past two years! We are so grateful to CSCOE for providing us with this wonderful opportunity for our students, staff, and school!

Throughout the various activities and events during the school year, St. Mary’s students and staff have modeled what is meant to be striving for sainthood. We look forward to the continued growth academically, spiritually, and growing stronger in our faith! St. Mary’s School has been blessed with another wonderful school year!

Rebecca Stutzman is the principal of St. Mary's School in Caledonia.