Catholic Schools Week (Part 3)
Photo by Flickr user Nicola Since 1972
In my two previous blogs I shared how our parish school celebrated Catholic Schools Week. After Sunday, the first day, I emailed the pastor, assistant pastor, principal, and two other ladies who helped organize the week and told them I felt we got an A++ for our first day. Without a doubt we maintained our GPA with honors through the rest of the week.
As the week went on I was taken by surprise by how emotional and personally touched I felt.
My insides started to become mushy when my youngest two kids and I, along with several other volunteers, personally handed out muffins to parents as they dropped their kids off to school. A number of moms had baked and donated the muffins. A group of parents got together the night before to put them in bags and tie them. They attached a note that read, “YOU ROCK! Thanks for being such an awesome parent for supporting Catholic Schools”.
To see the parents’ reaction when my little four-year-old walked up to the passenger side of their vehicle, tapped on their window, and handed them the muffin was heart-warming. No one could help but have a huge smile. The kids on patrol duty even looked on affectionately.
Even when an adult gave the muffin the parents were taken aback by this kind gesture. You know, it really is nice to be thanked, particularly when you don’t expect it.
Later that morning I helped set up for the teacher’s appreciation luncheon. In addition to giving the teachers the rare opportunity to eat a meal together, I learned that they were in for a big surprise. The other two ladies helping with the planning had created a video they planned to show the teachers. I was setting the tables as they were playing it to test the equipment. I had to be careful not to cry on the silverware.
Jo, one of the volunteers, had interviewed a variety of kids. With music playing in the background she had a montage of video clips. She asked the students what specifically they liked about their particular teacher and our school. While I did not attend the lunch, I am sure the teachers were floating on a cloud when they left the luncheon. I would be surprised if there was a dry eye in the house.
A little expression of appreciation goes a long way to energize and motivate.
The mom who organized the muffin giveaway joked about the irony that we are preparing these muffins just to give them to ourselves.
That’s exactly right.
We eat Christ’s body. Then as the Body of Christ, we feed each other.
That is what the Church means about being a Eucharistic people, exactly what we were celebrating for Catholic Schools Week.
Catholic Women’s Guide to Healthy Relationships Tip: Find a way you can serve others in your parish or school.
