SCHOOL CALENDAR - St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church

THE VALUE OF A
CATHOLIC
EDUCATION
For the second half of the school
year, we thought we'd ask our
8th Graders to share their thoughts
on the importance of a Catholic
education. Essays from the
students will now be included in
each newsletter.
The Value of a Good Catholic
Education
The Catholic Church as well as
the Diocese of Palm Beach Catholic
Schools offer children the educational
choices and tools for a successful
future. All bright futures start with a
strong foundation. Not just the mind,
but one that is centered by faith and
values. We are given a foundation that
also includes great academics,
outstanding community service,
extracurricular activities, and a lot more.
By attending a Catholic school,
your child has the outstanding
opportunity to grow in spiritual values
and morals. These essential faith and
values are repeated, taught, and
reinforced throughout the school day.
We receive the Gospel message
throughout the school year. Catholic
schools teach and encourage faith
development in the lives of children,
and are always dedicated to prove
students with a great academic
curriculum. At home and at school,
children are trained and prepared for
the lives of service to others and to
God. All over the world, Catholic
schools teach and exemplify the
importance of living the message of
Christ by helping the sick, needy, and
less fortunate. Students participate in
food pantry drives, toy drives, weekly
donations, clothing drives, and much
more which gives them an amazing
opportunity to serve others.
As you have read, Catholic schools give
students vast opportunities to excel and
exceed in mind and spirit. By sending your
child to a Catholic school, you are giving them
an advanced start in the classroom, but a
strong foundation for life. Students are also
given the tools and guidance to be the best
person we can by physically and spiritually.
Alexandria Lam - 8B
The Value of a Good Catholic Education
In this world of the twenty-first
century a Catholic school comes in handy
especially with our society and laws that are
consistently turning away from God. Catholic
schools encourage you to pray and to become
strong in your faith so that when you depart
from school and go into the world you can
preach, proclaim, and fulfill your faith to others.
Our country is led by lawmakers and
influenced by opinion makers trying to destroy
this nation by taking away our rights and
freedoms such as our freedom of religion and
freedom to worship the one and true God. By
going to a Catholic school we learn how to
fight together with Jesus, the fight of love by
bringing the kindness and love we learn at
Catholic schools into the hearts of everyone.
My Catholic school, St. Joan of Arc,
along with other Catholic schools tells the
students about ways they can grow in their
faith and places they can go to strengthen
their faith. For instance, this year I went to
Palm Beach Gardens to participate in
Steubenville, which is a retreat for young
Catholic middle school students. At
Steubenville they had many religious activities
such as adoration, confession, and mass. In
Catholic schools we also can pray, talk to and
about God, and learn about God unlike the
public schools which do not permit the name of
God or any religious objects such as a Bibles
and rosaries. We are so blessed that we have
the chance to attend a Catholic school where
God is the center of our lives and where
people cannot take Him out of our daily life.
As students of a Catholic school
we usually take our Catholic education for
granted and complain about the things we
could have or do if we went to a another
school. It is sad to see that a lot of my
classmates in my eighth grade class and a
lot of the students of the other eighth grade
class may not get to continue their
education in Catholic high schools where
God and His love are never hidden by a
cloud of darkness. As we get pushed off
the trail towards God we must use our
talents and gifts given to us by God to
make the steep and bumpy road back onto
the trail of righteousness. I believe the
students of Catholic schools find the
connection with God and themselves more
easily than children who attend public
schools.
During this past Lenten season a
very important event occurred, this was the
election of a new pope, Pope Francis.
Coming with this event is the calling of God
into our heart, so that we may better know
how to serve others just as our new pope
has served and will serve others. During
school we have been able to participate in
a novena for Pope Francis. We pray that
he will be guided by God and His love. If
we would not have been in a Catholic
school we could not understand our new
universal leader of the Catholic Church and
what his mission contains. Even though
this world is changing and a sweep of
atheism is heading our way, our Catholic
school education teaches us to stand up
for God and for the good. Thanks to a
Catholic school education we will always
know that God is there for us and that he
wants to be in our lives to help us grow in
faith and by His example He made this
possible.
Joseph Liguori – 8A