NORWICH – During these cold winter months, students at Holy Family School in Norwich are busy with extra activities, service projects, and celebrations. From health and wellness to school spirit, the PTO and school administration are offering three themed weeks to highlight special areas of focus.
The week of January 30 is National Catholic Schools Week, the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. At Holy Family School, the only Catholic school in Chenango County, students are spending the week focused on gratitude and service to the community.
Students throughout the schools crafted thank you cards for their dedicated teachers, and also made Valentine’s Day cards for residents of local nursing homes.
Fifth and sixth graders will go into the community to volunteer at the St. Bartholomew’s Soup Kitchen, and also at the SPCA. Younger students have contributed items for the soup kitchen and SPCA, and also “adopted” a family through Catholic Charities, by bringing in needed clothing and household items.
The week of January 23 Holy Family’s PTO presented “Wellness Week,” centered on different aspects of healthy living. Students were challenged to go “Screen Free” inspired by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s National Screen Free Week. A book exchange enabled participants to choose a new-to-them book as an incentive for forgoing video games, TV, and other electronic entertainment.
Other highlights of Wellness Week included “Try Five Tuesday,” when the PTO provided a buffet of familiar and unusual fruits and vegetables to encourage students to taste items such as canary melon, star fruit, garbanzo beans, asparagus, spaghetti squash, and sugar snap peas.
HFS grandparent and personal trainer Barb McGuire hosted special exercise classes mid-week, and on Thursday, the school welcomed dieticians from Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Eat Smart New York program, who presented “Go, Slow, Whoa Beverages,” a session on making smart beverage choices. A Family Dance rounded out the week on Friday evening.
The final themed week begins February 6 – the much-anticipated “Spirit Week.” With a variety of non-uniform days like Pajama Day, and games and activities hosted by the upper grades for the younger students, Spirit Week is a joy-filled celebration of the family atmosphere of Holy Family School.
“While academic learning is always our primary focus,” explains Principal Lydia Brenner, “we are thrilled to provide opportunities to expand our students’ experiences and to broaden their exposure to other ways of learning. We also want them to create fun memories of their time at Holy Family, and these three weeks are perfect for that.”
Holy Family School, founded in 1922, is a Middle States Accredited school that serves students in preschool through sixth grade from across Chenango County. Holy Family is a safe, secure, and caring school that fosters responsibility, self-discipline, spirituality, and academic excellence. Holy Family’s Catholic education is intended to make one’s faith living, conscious, and active through the light of instruction.