Busy Catholic Schools Week includes vocation talk and pie

LAKE VIEW — Southowns Catholic School had a very busy Catholic Schools Week full of fun activities and themed dress-down days. 

The students kicked it all off with Mass followed by their annual Open House on Sunday, Jan. 29. 

The school raised over $500 for Operation Good Neighbor by selling tickets for a chance to pie Principal Marc Bandelian and Assistant Principal Barbara Manley in the face on Monday.  You can bet almost every student in the school wanted a chance at doing that. 

On Tuesday, they gathered as a school for some friendly rivalry. The pre-K through fifth grade students participated in a competitive relay race, while the middle school students played the faculty in a very close game of basketball. Ultimately the students walked away with a win of 31-24. The teachers did not walk away empty-handed, they went home very sore and very tired.

On Wednesday, it was hard to tell what year it was since everyone was dressed like it was a different decade. The ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s were all represented.

In the afternoon, a teacher swap put an ELA teacher in the third grade math class, while the Spanish teacher was found in the kindergarten classroom. The students and teachers had fun with it. 

The school offers a special thank you to Father David Baker, director of Vocations for the Diocese of Buffalo, for coming out to speak with the fourth through eighth graders.

Father Baker made learning about vocations fun and interesting, with references to Star Wars. He even introduced the students to a rapping priest. (Something they never thought they would see or hear.)

Students and faculty kept things cozy on Thursday with PJs and movies. They finished things off on Friday with an all-school game of Bingo.