"It made me happy inside."

BCACS parents Graham Smith and Amy Young wanted their children, first-grader Ward and preschooler Rafferty, to understand the spirit of giving.

“We are very fortunate,” Ms. Young said. “It is important that we show our kids that many others are not and since we are able, we can help.”

Last year, the family sold items they weren’t using and donated the profits to Haven’s Gap which helps homeless children gain access to tutoring and recreation. This year, Ms. Young wanted to use the same method, but with a different beneficiary – St. Joseph Elementary School.

“There is no other place we would want our children to go to school in Battle Creek,” Ms. Young said. “It is a wonderful place with amazing, loving, and hardworking teachers and staff. Our project is just a tiny thank you from us.”

Ward and Rafferty picked which of their toys to sell.

“The kids were very excited to donate to their school,” Ms. Young said. “I think it gave them a stronger connection to where their money was going and got them very motivated to go through their things.”

Ward and Rafferty presented the money to their classes, each having raised $162.87.

Their teachers were genuinely surprised.

“To be so little and to want to donate so much was very generous,” preschool teacher Kelly. Francisco said. “[Rafferty] was so loving and showed the true meaning of what Christmas is all about. She let her light shine.”

[l. to r.] St. Joseph Principal Sara Myers, preschool teacher Kelly Francisco, and Rafferty Smith.

[l. to r.] First-grade teacher Devin Dubois and Ward Smith

First-grade teacher Devin Dubois was familiar with the family’s charity work, having had Ward in her kindergarten class last year.

“When they chose to give the funds from their toy donation to our class this year, I felt humbled,” Ms. Dubois said. “I think it is great that Ward's family has instilled the importance of giving back and it's so amazing to see this type of charity at such a young age.”

Their classmates were impressed.

“They were all very surprised that [Rafferty] was willing to sacrifice her toys,” Ms. Francisco said. “I think they were very proud of her and inspired by her as well.”

“The class was excited that Ward had decided to give the amount of money to our class to use for something,” Ms. Dubois said. “They were also thankful.”

Ms. Francisco hasn’t decided what to do with Rafferty’s gift yet. She is discussing options with her students, wanting it to be “fun and academic”.

Ms. Dubois class decided to buy new math manipulatives and library books.

“I can't wait to incorporate all our new items into the classroom,” Ms. Dubois said. “This truly couldn't have been done without Ward's family's support for our school and classroom.”

And how did these grade-school benefactors feel about their gifts?

“I was little embarrassed from all the attention but really happy we did it,” Ward said.

“It made me happy inside,” Rafferty said.

And it made all of us at BCACS happy, too!

SCRIP goes digital

Tuition. Who doesn’t want to reduce it?

SCRIP or School Cost Reduction Incentive Program has been helping families do just that without the fuss of fundraising. Families purchase gift cards from the school for places they frequent as customers. While they enjoyed face value of their money, SCRIP takes a percentage of each card. Half goes against the family’s tuition bill and half remains with the school. It is a win-win.

Now families can order SCRIP without the trip to the St. Joseph Parish Center. In fact, they can order SCRIP in their pajamas, in their car, even in line at Target.

It starts with going to www.ShopWithScrip.com. SCRIP Coordinator Joy Finnila recommends creating an account on a computer as opposed to a smartphone. Don’t worry; the cool smartphone-part is coming!

Click “Get Started” and then “Join a SCRIP Program”. Our BCACS Enrollment Code is: 4884793F457.

Once you have an account, you can easily sort through all 813 local and national vendors. When you select a vendor, you get a choice. There is the “Physical Gift Card” that goes in your wallet or a “ScripNow eCard”, which you can access through a phone or computer.

Certain vendors allow you to reload an existing card, provided it was purchased through SCRIP and registered to your account.

When you register a card, you can give it a name. Helen Guzzo, longtime BCACS parent and frequent SCRIP user, designated a Meijer card for each member of her family. It’s a great way to give gas money to teenage drivers.

Reloads take 24 hours to become available after purchase. Some vendors have a “ReloadNow” option, which gives instant access after purchase.

When you finish selecting your cards, you have two options to pay. The “check” option sends the order to Ms. Finnila. Much like traditional SCRIP, you show up at the SCRIP office, drop off your check and pick up your cards.

The “PrestoPay” option sends payment from your checking account, enabling “ReloadNow” to be truly NOW. “PrestoPay” takes a couple of days to set up and requires your bank account and routing number. There is a 15-cent fee per transaction, but you can buy as many cards as you like per transaction.

You can also create a SCRIP wallet for your smartphone. Type www.myscripwallet.com in your phone’s browser, log in, and click “add to home screen”. An icon will appear, which opens your digital SCRIP wallet.

Making SCRIP more accessible makes tuition more affordable. It doesn’t just help one family, but the whole BCACS family.

“The power of SCRIP is in the marginal use,” Mrs. Guzzo said. “The more people who use it, the bigger the impact for our schools.”

That power isn’t limited to school families.

Mrs. Guzzo is a big advocate of “Tuition Angels” – people outside the school who buy SCRIP and designate the rebate for a school family. Mrs. Guzzo is grateful for her family’s “Tuition Angels”.

“My Angels were supporters of the schools and supporters of my children,” Mrs. Guzzo said.

Now that her youngest daughter is set to graduate, Mrs. Guzzo has become an “Angel” for the BCACS band program.

“It’s truly the app that keeps me being a regular user,” Mrs. Guzzo said. “I’m doing social good just by spending my regular money.”

Want to learn more? Contact Joy Finnila at 269-963-3034 or jfinnila@bcacs.org.

It’s a difficult track, but one Coach Minier won’t run alone

St. Philip track coach Jeff Minier built his championship program around a simple philosophy.

“Track is a team sport, not an individual sport.”

Recent health issues have shown Coach Minier he’s a member of the BCACS family, not just a BCACS coach.

Coach Minier began suffering tremors last March. A barrage of doctors ran a barrage of tests, but they had no answers. Meanwhile, the 2017 track season was underway. Since this team included his own children (Tim, Class of 2017, and Gabby, Class of 2020), Coach Minier decided to let everyone know.

“I told them, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but by God, we are here to run track, and we’re not here to worry about this stuff,’” Coach Minier said.

The St. Philip Track Team after winning their fourth west division championship in 2017.

The assistant coaches and team captains took on more responsibility and St. Philip earned their fourth division, third league, and first regional championships. The tremors, however, continued. The Minier family couldn’t help but worry. 

Coach Minier decided to go to the Mayo Clinic over Thanksgiving Break. As his appointment approached, his BCACS family mobilized.

The high school said a Rosary at the Grotto, each class leading a decade for Coach Minier’s health.

“Jeff has done so much for our kids,” St. Philip Principal Vicky Groat said. “He’s always pushing them to be better, not just as athletes but as young men and women.”

St. Philip High School students saying the Rosary at the Grotto for the Minier Family.

“I found it very humbling that anyone would think that highly of me to want to do something,” Coach Minier said. “I will take all the help I can get.”

A group of moms from the Class of 2017 contacted Penna Michele, longtime BCACS teacher, to make a prayer quilt from track t-shirts.

“Penna is amazing,” Jeanine Winkler, one of the moms, said. “She put aside another project she was doing in order to do that.”

The elementary and middle school had an out-of-dress-code fundraiser to give the Miniers some spending money while at the Mayo Clinic. The money arrived with the quilt.

“That really threw [my wife and me] backward,” Coach Minier said. “We were dumbfounded that they would do anything. I don’t really have anything to do with the elementary and middle school.”

Mrs. Doyle’s first-grade class sent an additional gift while the Miniers were at Mayo.

“We made him a Rosary book letting him know that we're thinking of him and offering him and his family up in prayer,” Mrs. Doyle said. “I had [the Minier] children here at school, and I think the world of him and Christy.”

The Rosary book was waiting when the Miniers returned.

“I don’t know who [the first-graders] are, and they probably don’t know who I am, but they took time out of their day to do something,” Coach Minier said. “That brought me back to the fact that I’m not just a coach at the high school and my kids aren’t just at a high school.”

“Once you come through our doors, even if you are only there for a year, you are part of the family,” Mrs. Groat said. “We wrap our arms around each other.”

The power of prayer has produced good news. The doctors have diagnosed Coach Minier with a functional movement disorder, a condition that responds well to physical therapy.

It’s a difficult track, but one he won’t run alone.

Mr. Minier (center) with the "dream team" from the Class of 2017. These young men had been running the relay together since their St. Joseph Middle School days when Coach Minier put the team together.

Saints with the intention to trick

St. Joseph Elementary and Preschool has a longstanding and very cute Halloween tradition – the annual costume parade. At the end of this year’s parade, a new tradition began.

Fr. Chris Ankley sent a letter to parents, sharing the Catholic roots of All Hallows Eve and the various traditions it inspired over the centuries. He extended an invitation for the children to dress as saints – saints with the intention to trick and receive a treat.

Who were they to trick? Fr. Chris and Fr. José Haro.

“They have to give us two clues about their mystery saint,” Fr. Chris wrote. “If we can’t deduce who they are, they get a prize. All the traditional Halloween activities of St. Joseph School will remain the same. If a child so chooses they do not have to dress as a saint. They should be aware, however, that the contest is only for those who dress as a saint.”

St. Joseph School Principal Sara Myers hung a large signup sheet by the office, pleased to have ten students willing to participate.

“We are a Catholic school, and we are always looking at ways we can add to our Catholic identity,” Mrs. Myers said.

Parents, students, and staff gathered in the cafeteria after the Halloween parade to see if Fr. Chris and Fr. José could name all ten saints. They got eight out of ten right.

Can you guess these Saints? [l. to r.] Mary Sui as Mother Theresa, Jennitzy Talavera as Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Adriana Olsen as Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Emma Rose Smith as Saint Philomena, Aaron Barraza Reyes as St. Aaron, Addisyn Lowe as St. Catherine of Sienna, Carson Brown as St Joseph, Jerome Bastian as Saint Emile Martyr, and Juan Mejia Lugo as John Paul II.

Who stumped our priests? Emma Rose Smith, who was St. Philomena, and Jerome Bastian, who was St. Émile.

Fr. Chris chuckled over his losses.

“The clues [Emma] gave me were, 'I'm a female saint and like babies’," Fr. Chris said.

As far as St. Émile, Fr. Chris could only deduce he was a martyr.

“[Jerome] had a very clever costume,” Fr. Chris said. “He had a ring of fire around his feet and a palm branch, which meant he was a martyr.”

The winners received a rosary. All the participants received a small crucifix and a sizable candy bar – so sizeable Mrs. Myers reported hearing a collective gasp. After that, the room was far from quiet.

“The students really loved when they were able to stump the priests,” Mrs. Myers said. “The kids were screaming and cheering.”

Fr. Chris is already looking forward to next year.

“Hopefully we will get more kids,” Fr. Chris said. “We gave out some really big candy bars. One of the teachers said the parents were already talking about it.”

The parents weren’t the only ones talking.

“I’m anticipating that we are going to have a longer list next year,” Mrs. Myers said. “At the end of the day, I heard kindergartners walking down the hall saying, ‘I’m going to be a saint next year!’”

"I will never cut down my friends"

When celebrated Battle Creek artist Richard Schlatter came to St. Joseph Elementary last Thursday, it wasn’t as the ArtPrize 2017’s grand prize winner, but as a storyteller.

“One of my ministries is visiting elementary schools, reading my book to second-grade classes, and then giving each student a signed copy of my book,” Mr. Schlatter said in his ArtPrize biography. “It is one of my ways of giving back to the community.”

One of the schools he reached out to after winning ArtPrize was St. Joseph.

“He actually contacted my mother in law to see if the second-grade class at St Joseph would be interested,” Aimee Downey, preschool teacher, said.

They were.

Mr. Schlatter read “The Old Man and the Tree” to Barbie Carrier’s second-grade class – a book he wrote and illustrated.

The story begins with a young man planting a tree in his yard. Over the years, the tree becomes a friend. He takes care of it and the tree offers him shade. Eventually, the man grows tired of pulling seeds out of his gutters and raking his yard, so he decides to cut the tree down.

“He can't bring himself to do it because he thinks of the tree as a friend, so he hires someone to do it,” Mrs. Carrier said. “He is very sad afterward.”

The old man finds a maple seed on the ground, which he plants and cares for, hoping someone will enjoy the new tree as much as he did his old friend.

The story is not a work of fiction. It was Mr. Schlatter’s own experience, which he shaped into a story for his granddaughter.

“One of the students loved that the story he wrote was based on him and was a true story,” Mrs. Carrier said.

Mr. Schlatter shared the artistic process of creating the book with the children.

“He showed them his original sketches and then the sketches after he had colored them with colored pencils,” Mrs. Carrier said. “[The students] loved being able to see both the before and after. I feel like it gave some of [our students] inspiration.”

Thanks to the generosity of Marilyn and Ralph Calladine, friends of Mr. Schlatter and our BCACS, each child received a copy of the book, personally signed by Mr. Schlatter, who had the children make a vow.

“I will never cut down my friends.”

“Our second-grade students were so fortunate to learn about the writing and illustrating process first-hand from Mr. Schlatter,” Cathy Erskine, BCACS enrollment director said. “The positive message his book conveyed about friendship and caring for one another is especially meaningful.”

"These kids are my vitamins"

St. Joseph preschool teacher Kelly Francisco considers BCACS a family. Her father worked there, she graduated from there, her husband graduated from there, and her children now attend there. But it took breast cancer to reveal the depth of her school family.

“I wouldn’t say [having cancer] is a blessing, but it has definitely shown me why I send my kids here,” Mrs. Francisco said.

When Mrs. Francisco received her diagnosis, she knew she wanted to keep teaching. Her fellow teachers and classroom aides helped her make a plan. Together, they told staff, parents, and students.

“I explained to my students that Miss Kelly has a boo-boo inside of her and I have to take it out,” Mrs. Francisco said. “The kids were really good about it.”

The kids weren’t the only ones.

“Teachers from all over, parents from this year and the past started bringing these gifts – anything they thought I would need for recovery,” Mrs. Francisco said.

Retired teacher Penna Maichele made a “Hope” quilt. Every BCACS student, teacher, and administrator signed a board with the words “I am not fighting alone”. St. Joseph staff members Jeanine Winkler and Don Shafer collected student well wishes in a book. Fr. Chris Ankley gave her a special blessing.

Teacher’s aide Riki Albert made pink “wish” bracelets for students and their moms. Ms. Albert and preschool teacher Aimee Downey created a photo collage of the children’s hands in prayer, all wearing this bracelet. The caption read, “God is watching over you. We know because we asked him to.”

St. Philip principal Vicky Groat asked Mrs. Francisco, a former St. Philip volleyball player, to be an honorary coach at the team’s annual “Pink Game”, which raises money for Borgess’ Tree of Life.

“That’s the thing about our schools if something happens to any of the people in our family the whole community comes out and helps,” Mrs. Groat said.

On the day of her mastectomy, administrative assistant Lee Papke organized a rosary before school with Mrs. Francisco. All the staff was there, wearing pink.

“I was supposed to take six weeks off [for the mastectomy], but I took two.” Mrs. Francisco said. “The reason I took two is this is my second family – these kids are my vitamins. They help me get through every day and so does the staff.”

Mrs. Francisco’s prognosis is good and she plans to work through her remaining treatments. Parents and teachers continue to overwhelm her with support and encouragement.

“The outpouring of love and affection I’ve gotten has made going through this a lot easier,” Mrs. Francisco said. “This is why I send my kids to St. Joseph. It’s not just a school – we’re a family.”

Want to join the fight against breast cancer?

October 5th is the St. Philip Volleyball Team's annual "Pink Game" to raise money for Borgess Tree of Love, which offers free mammograms to underinsured women. The JV game starts at 5:30, with the Varsity game to follow. Former team members and current breast cancer fighters Kelly Francisco and Meghan (Downey) Darlington will be honorary coaches. There will be a 50/50 raffle, a prize raffle, a serving contest for free pizza, "pink" treats at the concession stand, and "TIGERS ROAR against Cancer" T-shirts available for purchase. Direct donations can be made for the Tree of Love on site.

Need a Buddy? Take a seat.

There three benches on the St. Joseph playground, but the yellow one is special. If you need a friend, you take a seat.

St. Joseph Elementary Preschool and TK teacher Amiee Downey first saw a Buddy Bench during her family vacation in Holland. Children sat there if they needed a friend or stopped there to make a new friend.

It reminded Mrs. Downey of her older daughters, one of whom was more reserved and the other who was more outgoing.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that would be perfect for our girls’,” Mrs. Downey said. “Ellery could sit on it in hopes someone would come ask her to play and Leah could make some new friends and be the one asking everyone to play.”

It seemed natural to bring a Buddy Bench to St. Joe, especially for new students for whom recess can be stressful. Mrs. Downey pitched the idea to the staff and won swift approval.

Mrs. Downey and her husband chose the most centrally located playground bench and painted it bright yellow, lettering “Buddy Bench” in purple.

“We introduced it right at the start of the year to go along with all of our friendship units,” Mrs. Downey said. “The rules behind it are simple. If you want to play with someone and don't know whom to ask, you sit on the bench. If someone comes and asks you to play, you graciously accept and give it a try.”

The response has been wonderful, especially from the younger grades.

“I have seen children sit on the bench and I've also seen people come up and ask them to play,” Mrs. Downey said. “One child said they like it because they know someone will ask them to play.”

Kindergartener Emma Lumbard told her grandmother, BCACS Enrollment Director, Cathy Erskine, “Yeah, it works. I sat on it and a friend asked me to play."

And those invitations extend to teachers, too.

Enrichment teacher Caroline Greenman sat on the Buddy Bench during her class’ recess, only to have some of her students ask if she “needed a buddy”.

Following the Buddy Bench rules, Mrs. Greenman graciously accepted their offer and enjoyed sliding down the slide.

“Nobody ever sits on the Buddy Bench for very long,” Mrs. Downey said.

The last day of school: Ardis Vandenboss & Danielle Orton

Summer vacation is wonderful, but goodbyes are tough. Today's BCACS Blog spends time with two beloved teachers for whom the last day of school is their last day with us.

Ardis Vandenboss

St. Joseph Elementary School teacher Ardis Vandenboss wouldn’t consider her husband’s suggestion of retirement three years ago.

“Up to that point, I had never considered retirement,” Mrs. Vandenboss said. “I truly loved my teaching. Why retire?”

Mrs. Vandenboss has taught nearly every grade of elementary and middle school during her 40-year career, which includes 32 years for the BCACS. She has mentored many teachers, including current St. Joseph School principal Sara Myers.

“She has a great love of teaching, her students, and our schools,” Mrs. Myers said. “[She] has touched the lives of so many, including mine.”

“Ardis has been an inspiration, a mentor, and most of all a friend,” St. Joseph fourth-grade teacher Liz Casterline said.

“Ardis is a huge personality and a gifted asset,” St. Joseph Elementary Administrative Assistant Jeanine Winkler said. “Parents love her tightly-run ship. She provides lots of love, spread out amongst all her students.”

For the last decade, that love included commuting daily from Coldwater, where Mrs. Vandenboss and her husband bought a “ten-cent house with a million-dollar view”. Such a schedule left little time for friends, grandkids, or even having coffee on the deck.

She started considering her husband’s suggestion, which is why this year’s last day of school will truly be Mrs. Vandenboss’s last day of school.

The goodbyes have been tough, especially with her students, who she promised to visit.

“The kids are the ones who are going to be hardest to leave,” Mrs. Vandenboss said. “This group I’ve got now, not only did I have them for two years, but I’ve had a lot of their siblings. In fact, I had some of their parents.”

Mrs. Vandenboss, center, with her final fourth grade class at St. Joseph Elementary School.

 

Danielle Orton

Danielle Orton didn’t plan to stay when she took a teaching position at St. Philip High School in 2008.

Her plans changed.

“I fell in love with this environment, with these kids,” Ms. Orton said.

St. Philip teachers wear many hats, a norm Ms. Orton embraced. During her tenure, she taught English, literature, Spanish, health, creative writing, even yearbook.

“My dream job has been to teach every subject I have the ability to,” Ms. Orton said. “My dream job manifested itself at St. Philip.”

Inspired by the St. Philip counselors who continued to teach in the classroom, Ms. Orton pursued her master's degree in school counseling, which she recently completed.

“I couldn't picture a better work day than one that involved not only working with our kids in the classroom but also being able to help them dig deeper on a personal level and find their strength,” Ms. Orton said. “I'm happy to have worked at a school that embraces nurturing the mind and the soul.”

This year Ms. Orton’s plans have changed again. She will be moving to Alabama.

“Knowing what I know now about how much you can love your job, I have high expectations for my next position,” Ms. Orton said. “I can't think of anything that I won't miss. I'll miss my St. Philip family.”

The feeling is mutual.

“It’s going to be hard to replace Dani,” St. Philip principal Vicky Groat said. “She has done so much for the students over the years. She has shown so much pride and love for the school. Dani will be a great counselor because of her passion for helping and guiding our youth.”

Ms. Orton, center left, with three of her students.

St. Joe students walk for miles and miles and miles...

Rounding the schoolyard

You can see them during morning drop-off at St. Joseph Elementary School – students as young as five and as old as fifth-graders circling the school grounds, stopping only to swipe a card before taking off again.

You will see them again during lunch recess, racking up hundreds of miles within the friendly confines of their schoolyard.

This is Operation Fit, a six-week, city-wide fitness program for elementary students funded through a Battle Creek Community Foundation grant. Ann Gallagher, St. Joseph preschool aide, heads up St. Joe’s effort.

“Our goal as a school and a community is to get kids moving,” Ms. Gallagher said.

Ms. Gallagher tailored St. Joseph’s Mileage Club to fit the grant criteria. Students walk the schoolyard along a specific route. After each circuit, they swipe a personal bar code into an iPad app, which tracks their progress.

Tracking their progress

Eight laps equal a mile and every mile gets students closer to prizes like mileage tokens, wristbands, T-shirts, water bottles, lunch with the principal, even Full Blast day passes.

Participation is voluntary; so is walking.

“They can run, they can skip – I don’t care how they do it as long as they are moving,” Ms. Gallagher said.

On May 3^rd, St. Joseph hosted an Operation Fit Family Fun Night with Bronson Battle Creek. Healthy recipe demonstrations and taste-testing were followed by more time on the blacktop.

“We ate first and they were able to walk for an hour,” Ms. Gallagher said. “Some kids did 30 laps that evening.”

Ms. Gallagher tracks miles before school and during lunch recess – times that are open to all elementary students. At the end of the six weeks, the top boy and top girl will receive a Razor scooter.

[l to r] Kolten Etheridge, Ann Gallagher, and Ryan Casterline

Second-grader Kolten Etheridge and fifth-grader Ryan Casterline are neck-and-neck for the top boy spot going into the final week.

“As soon as I come out the side doors, they are running,” Ms. Gallagher said. “It’s really awesome to see them compete.”

Although they enjoy the competition, both boys enjoy moving.

“I think it’s a good way to get out and run and be more athletic,” Ryan said.

“I love running and you can just run as much as you want,” Kolten said. “And once you get up into those high levels, it feels good to be up there.

As for the top two girls?

“I don’t know how competitive they are with each other,” Ms. Gallagher said with a smile. “They are running together.”

The elementary school has totaled 1804.78 miles as of Monday night. The real victory for Ms. Gallagher, however, is getting more kids to enjoy exercise.

“If I could get a least one kid who didn’t exercise moving, then I’ve done my job.”

First Communion Joy

It was a rainy Saturday, full of budding flowers, and the crisp dresses and pressed dress shirts of St. Joseph’s 2017 First Holy Communion Class.

These children had prepared all year, reflecting on the significance of the Eucharist, reading about saints devoted to the Eucharist, and practicing how to receive the Eucharist.

Finally, their big day had arrived.

Unable to use St. Joseph Church due to roof repairs, these 29 second-graders and one third-grader, their loved ones, Father Chris and Father Jose, St. Joseph School principal Sara Myers, and second-grade teachers Barbie Carrier and Amy Doyle sojourned across town to St. Philip Church.

St. Joseph Middle School students Hayden Schaub and Gregory Garfield were waiting for them.

“We didn't have any siblings [of First Communicants] who were trained to altar-serve at St. Philip and they both graciously accepted the request,” Mrs. Doyle said.

The Knights of Columbus, in all their finery, led the children into the church, which was filled to capacity. Each child carried a flower to be presented to our Mother Mary.

Some students took part in the Mass, reading the first reading, offering the petitions, and bringing up the gifts. Others said prayers for deceased loved ones, those who couldn’t celebrate with them in the flesh, but smiled down from heaven.

Father Chris and Father Jose concelebrated Mass, which underlined for the children how special this day was.

“Father Chris gave a beautiful homily about St. Christopher,” Mrs. Doyle said. “A few of the kids remembered that as a very special part of the Mass.”

The children knelt as a group, while the Eucharistic Prayer was said. They joined hands for the “Our Father” and shook hands during the Sign of Peace.

Then, one by one, the children came up to receive Our Lord for the first time.

Mrs. Doyle shared that some students were worried about approaching the altar with arms crossed to receive a blessing instead of hands cupped to receive the Lord.

But no one forgot.

After Communion, Father Chris blessed religious items loved ones had placed near Mary’s altar as gifts to the children.

The children also gave a gift, singing “Follow Me” for the congregation. St. Philip high school freshman Adam Sprague accompanied the First Communicants on the piano.

“This song talks about our communion with Jesus, our uniting with Him in love,” Mrs. Doyle said.

Blessed and happy, everyone gathered in the St. Philip Parish Center for cake, congratulations, and, of course, pictures.

“It was a beautiful day,” Mrs. Doyle said. “All of the children walk in with such holy anticipation. They were excited about being dressed up and receiving Jesus.”

May it always be so for these children of God.