First Marking Period Comes to a Successful Conclusion

On Friday, October 23, the first marking period came to a successful conclusion at St. Patrick School. Our agenda during these weeks was rigorous, and our accomplishments were many! In a regular school year, we would not consider holding in-person classes throughout the marking period as a significant success story; however, 2020 is not what we would call a “normal school year.” We were excited to have the opportunity to come up with a plan over the course of the summer that would allow our students to return to the classroom if they chose to do so. We were also excited by the following successes throughout the first marking period:

● St. Patrick School welcomed 32 new students in grades K-12 including the largest kindergarten class in quite some time.

● On Tuesday, September 22, we hosted our annual National Honor Society Induction Ceremony at the Red Mill that had been scheduled to take place in March. Unfortunately, our third-year members were unable to attend, but we were able to induct our new members and recognize our second-year members.

● On Thursday, September 24, the Class of 2021 was trained in first aid and CPR.

● The week of September 28 was Spirit Week, which gave the students opportunities to show their school spirit in many creative ways. On Friday of Spirit Week, we celebrated with boys volleyball and a pep assembly followed by our annual powder puff football game.

● St. Patrick School hosted our annual Homecoming on Saturday, October 3. Chase Fitzsimmons and Marian Pearson were crowned as king and queen at half time. The football team was victorious by a score of 42-6 over Hillman.

● On Monday, October 12, our Mind Over Matter Committee met for the first time. This new group was created to work on boosting student morale, to problem-solve any challenges our students face, and to promote mental health awareness and a positive school culture.

● Teachers participated in a virtual Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools (MANS) conference on October 12-15 as well as other professional development this school year.

● Parent/Teacher conferences took place on Thursday, October 22, and Friday, October 23, with several adaptations put in place to ensure safety for all.

● We were able to get our fall sports season off to a successful start, and our teams are doing well, overcoming any challenges they faced due to restrictions placed on them from the pandemic. Sideline cheerleading returned to St. Patrick as a fall sport, setting a school record with 36 girls joining the team. Our football team closed out their regular season on Friday night with a perfect 6-0 record.

● Mr. Luis Arturo Araujo has joined our teaching faculty as the K-12 Art/Technology instructor. His positivity and energy is contagious! A fun fact about “Mr. Art” is that he placed in the top 10 artists of Art Prize in 2014! Take a look at his entry here https://www.artprize.org/56186 .

The above mentioned events are just a snapshot of the excitement taking place inside of St. Patrick School. We are extremely appreciative of our school faculty and staff. Without them, this school year would not have been possible. They deserve the biggest award possible for their dedication, bravery, and willingness to try new and challenging things. Thank you to all of the parents and students as well. Together We Pray! We Learn! We Achieve!

Randy Hodge is the high school principal at St. Patrick School.