A new start for students displaced by Katrina
Posted by Lisa Hendey
in News
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 7:13 PM
Congratulations to my fourth grade nephew Patrick and his fellow schoolmates at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Long Beach, Mississippi.
Almost three years after the utter devastation of their former Catholic school buildings in Hurricane Katrina, the children went back to school today at a newly opened, state of the art school building! For the past three years, the students have been studying in a refurbished skating rink that was quickly remodeled into a parish and school. With the opening of their new school today, the children christen a new campus that has a chapel at its heart and is ready to welcome generations of Gulf Coast families for a fine education.
Following Katrina, parishes, schools, and families around the country came together to support the impacted parishes and schools who had lost their faith homes in the hurricane. When my sister called me today to tell me about Patrick’s first day at the new school, I was able to celebrate with her and recall the days my boys and I had spent standing on street corners following the storm, collecting needed funds for these very students. What a joy to hear that thanks to all of the emotional and financial support they received, the families of St. Vincent de Paul School can now move into the future.
I wish Patrick and his classmates a wonderful fourth grade year, filled with fun, learning and prayer in their new school!
|
Filed under community service, school, students
Print Article 
Email a Friend
Related articles by this author:
Related articles by other authors:
Comments
1. Posted by Therese on Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 10:40 PM (EST):
Lisa,
I am teaching fourth grade this year in a Catholic school. It is the first time for me...I have taught Kindergarten for 12 years at this same school in California. When my students (my incoming 4th graders this year) were in my Kindergarten, they had pen pals from a Catholic school in Kenya. It was a priceless experience for them!!
Would it be possible to contact your nephew’s school and arrange a pen-pal activity with them? I remember all the fundraisers we had at our school to help Catholic schools who were victims of Hurricane Katrina. I think it would be a fantastic opportunity for my students to have them as pen pals.
Please let me know what you think.
2. Posted by Lisa Hendey on Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 12:34 AM (EST):
Therese, I think that would be a great idea! Please email me at and I will put you in touch with my sister, who might be able to arrange this with Patrick’s teacher. Thanks for your commitment to being a teacher - you are a hero! Lisa
3. Posted by Natasia Kissinger
[website] on Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 4:26 PM (EST):
Hi Lisa!
I am so glad to hear that another school opened. We live right outside of New Orleans and were somewhat victims of Katrina. Our school, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, didn’t flood, but did have some damage. It is so sad to still see some devastated areas after 3 years. I will keep your nephew and his new school in our prayers.
Natasia
4. Posted by WintrySum on Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 4:38 PM (EST):
Hi Lisa,
I’ll keep your nephew in my prayers. We lived seven years in Biloxi ,MS stationed in the service and moved just before Katrina we know the area well. So much damage and still have ways to go.
wintry
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment.
Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please
limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
RSS Feeds
