Medford’s St. Mary of the Lakes School celebrated Catholic Schools Week by having each day beginning on Jan. 30 represent a different activity, including birthday bags for local food banks and a first responder breakfast parade.
The week-long observance has been a long-standing tradition celebrated for years to promote community service and introduce people to individual Catholic schools.
For St. Mary of the Lakes, this year’s theme was “Catholic Schools: learn, serve, lead, succeed.” Events were put together by Principal Maria Sobel, Director of Marketing and Events Kimberly Tabler, and Director of Admissions and Advancement Jillian Pereira.
Activities had Mass at St. Mary and the school had open tours by appointment. On Jan. 31, the school celebrated the community with a day of service that resulted in more than 100 birthday bags for local food banks created by elementary students. Middle-schoolers made Valentine’s cards for the residents of Retirement Community Medford Leas, and pre-k students made “thank you’’ banners for the first responder breakfast parade later in the week.
On Feb. 1, students of St. Mary enjoyed cupcakes, a dress down day where they could wear something besides their Catholic school uniforms, no homework and the movie ‘Sing 2’ in the afternoon.
The next day, the school celebrated the first responder drive-through parade breakfast, an idea that came during the pandemic. Students lined the parking lot as the local EMS, firefighters and police from Medford and Medford Lakes drove through and thanked them for their service with pre-packaged breakfast meals that contained items from Sunflour Bakery, McDonald’s and ACME.
“The kids love seeing the vehicles, and the first responders love seeing the kids, so it was a fun morning,” said Tabler, who also acknowledged how important it is to the school to show gratitude.
“It’s nice to be able to give back to all of those who keep us safe here in the community all the time,” she noted.
On Feb 3, the students celebrated vocations by asking questions of two priests from the church, and ended the week on Feb 4 with a pep rally to celebrate school faculty, staff and volunteers..
Reflecting on the week, Tabler noted what makes giving back during Catholic Schools Week so special for everyone involved.
“We are in a unique situation to be able to serve, and that’s something that should be celebrated,” she said
