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| Students at St. John the Baptist School in Jefferson honor veterans with messages of thanks and prayers during an outdoor program outside the church. (Contributed photo) |
JEFFERSON — Students and staff at St. John the Baptist School in Jefferson completed the first quarter of this new school year with much success despite the ongoing pandemic.
With the implementation of safety protocols recommended by the CDC, the students and teachers were ready to begin classes on August 31 and continue to do so.
While many of the traditional events and programs had to be either postponed or modified, the school continues to provide its rich academic program for students in pre-K through eighth grade.
As vital as their curriculum is, the mission of the school to provide a faith-based education with an emphasis on service is evident in the many activities that students engaged in throughout the first ten weeks of this school year.
All-school Masses
Since seating in church follows social distancing guidelines, weekly all-school Masses continue to be celebrated with classes alternating attendance in church with participating virtually in classrooms via technology.
One of the special Masses in October was in celebration of the third graders who had earlier received First Holy Communion, which was to have taken place this past spring.
Sharing prayer experiences has taken on special meaning in this year of the pandemic as the parish and school community are now able to spend time with Jesus in the new Perpetual Adoration chapel, with social distancing protocols in place.
Service projects
In keeping with the school mission to be the “hands and feet of Christ” as his loving disciples, students and staff organized and participated in several service projects since the start of the school year.
Fifth graders organized a fundraiser before Halloween to support the building of wells to provide clean drinking water to areas in Africa.
The “Halloween Street Eats” project was supported by all classes as they purchased treats sold by the fifth graders.
This event was followed by the fifth through eighth graders participating in a modified “rake-a-thon” service project while the lower grades spent the afternoon making cards for area nursing and senior citizen homes.
Another act of service was the annual tribute to veterans, which took on a very different look this year due to having to limit the number of attendees in the church.
The school community felt very strongly about continuing the annual tradition of expressing their gratitude to the many veterans in their community.
So, a modified program took place outdoors in front of the church and school.
With students waving flags and displaying posters, a heartfelt message was given to veterans by way of a video that was shared on the school and parish websites.
Additionally, all students made cards that were mailed to the William S. Middleton Veterans Hospital in Madison.
In keeping with “works of mercy,” eighth graders and the student council organized the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive to support the Jefferson Food Pantry.
Go Make Disciples!
As this school year continues to unfold, special emphasis will be placed on Bishop Hying’s initiative of Evangelization and “Go Make Disciples!”
The staff has begun regular discussion, reflection, and lectio divina prayer experiences using the monthly themes encouraged by the program.
Students engage in activities that promote and develop concepts of discipleship and evangelization, taking the form of various prayer experiences, reflection on Sacred Scripture, projects, etc.
The Student Council will be developing themes of discipleship and evangelization for Advent and Lent this year.
Finally, seventh and eighth graders responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him as disciples by completing an “RSVP”, which was shared with Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison in celebration of All Saints Day.
Margie Schels teaches at St. John the Baptist School in Jefferson.