Catholic Schools Week was celebrated across the United States from January 27 through February 2 this year. Since 1974, this week has been the annual celebration of Catholic education. This year, the theme for Catholic Schools Week was to learn, serve, lead, and succeed. For this week, Cathedral Prep attributed each one of these themes to a day of the week, but also added a “pray day.” Campus Ministry celebrated Catholic Schools Week by organizing and planning a variety of school wide activities.
Monday, Jan. 28 was titled “Learn Day.” Students were allowed to dress down in their favorite college apparel. There was an a.m. activity schedule for the football team’s MaxPreps Tour of Champions presentation. This is an award ceremony held by MaxPreps partnered with the Army National Guard in which recipients must be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Computer Rankings and win a state championship. During lunch on Monday, there were special deals offered on pizza, and the faculty and staff appreciation luncheon, where students would serve food to the employees of Cathedral Prep.
Students were able to dress down in spirit apparel on Tuesday for serve day. In theology classes, students made Valentine’s Day cards for local nursing home and for active military personnel. At the end of the school day, the entire student body gathered in the auditorium for a rally. Later that evening, the Prep basketball team would face, and ultimately defeat, their rivals from Millcreek at the Hagerty Family Events Center. Senior Caden Elwell shared, “It was great to defeat our rivals on our home court, and it was even more significant since it was Catholic Schools Week. It gave a great ending to Tuesday’s events.”
On Wednesday, the theme was lead day, and students were able to wear their favorite jerseys. The hot dog eating contest and CYO All Star Game were supposed to be held this day, but were delayed due to the weather. Later in the evening, Campus Ministry continued their weekly prayer series with adoration at Saint Francis Xavier.
As a part of pray day, students were encouraged to dress up in any blazer, cardigan, sweater, or silly tie they may have on Thursday. It was scheduled so that Prep, along with Mother Teresa Academy, would celebrate a mass in the morning with Bishop Persico; however, due to the harsh weather, these plans had to be canceled. The production of Mamma Mia began to be held in the H David Bowes auditorium later that evening. Alex Kolodychak, a lead in Mamma Mia, said, “The Mamma Mia production was absolutely fantastic. We even sold out one night. The production added something special to Catholic Schools Week, making the week even more exciting.”
In the final day of the school week, students were able to wear comfortable clothing in a dress down as a part of succeed day. The major activity held on Friday was free Dairy Queen ice cream was passed out for students appreciation day. Students received cups of vanilla ice cream and had access to a diverse selection of toppings, such as various sprinkles, sauces, and fruits. Also, this is when the hot dog eating contest was finally held. The winner ate six hot dogs and buns in five minutes. Evan Selker, shared his mentality for the competition, “It was certainly harder than I expected, I just tried to push for the whole five minutes. I was proud of my valiant performance and hopefully gave the lunchroom a good show.”
Catholic Schools Week offered Prep students more flair to their typical five day school week. With the various activities planned throughout the week, Prep was able to celebrate Catholic education through leaning, serving, leading, and succeeding.
