St. Francis of Assisi School this week is joining all Catholic schools nationwide in celebrating what Catholic schools offer: an education that prepares students for a secular and a Christian life.
At the Greenwood school, students and staff are having fun with the festivities, the principal, Sister Carol Seidl, said. Events include skits, games, worship, historical presentations and meals.
The theme is "Catholic Schools: Character. Compassion. Values."
Children, teachers and staff have written and spoken on different subjects.
Parents and friends have attended Home and School Association events, such as a catfish dinner Saturday night and a book fair and open house Sunday.
The school - part of the 55-year-old St. Francis Parish - has 121 students in pre-kindergarten through the seventh-grade.
Two of its teachers, Dianne Jones, who teaches first grade, and Marion Taylor, who teaches fourth grade, are former St. Francis students.
Among the exhibits at the school this week are students' essays telling why they like the school.
The essays from Taylor's class are posted just outside the classroom door.
Her students Janie Zuniga, 10, and David Anderson, 9, are among those who wrote about avoiding the words "can't" and "never" and choosing instead to say, "I will try."
On Monday, Taylor had them help her with a presentation to the rest of the school. They talked about values, and meanings represented by letters spelling respect.
"R is for responsibility," for example, and "E is for excellence."
Taylor wanted to share some of the values that St. Francis as promoted since her school days.
"St. Francis strives to build a Catholic educational community in an environment of faith in which tradition, culture and knowledge are shared among teachers, students and parents," Taylor said.
Monday was history day, and today is character and value day, followed by an open house at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.
A family lunch day will be held Wednesday, and fun day, with games and contests such as "balloon pop" and sack races, on Thursday.
At mass on Friday, students will donate money for rebuilding churches and Catholic schools on the Gulf Coast.
