'Hidden ministry' appreciated

MIAMI SHORES � In celebrating Catholic schools, students at St. Mary Cathedral School also paused to remember the people �behind the scenes� who help make Catholic education possible.

On Feb. 1, three students, two alumni and a couple of faculty members visited the archdiocesan Pastoral Center to bring a bagel breakfast to the staff at the Department of Schools, as well as candies, candles and roses to employees in other offices.

Catholic Schools Week is celebrated from Jan. 31-Feb. 4.

Sister Michelle Fernandez, a member of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary who serves as assistant principal at St. Mary�s, said their purpose was �to honor the Department of Schools (and) for them to know that these are the students they�re serving.�

In the past, she said, the school children have written letters to the staff of the Department of Schools in order to show their appreciation for their �hidden ministry.� But this year they decided a personal visit was in order.

�We appreciate everything that you do for us,� said Patricia Cunningham, the eighth grade teacher at St. Mary�s.

Hope Sadowski, administrative executive assistant in the department, certainly felt appreciated.

�It�s one of the poorest schools and they�re making the effort,� she said. �That�s why Catholic education has to be for everybody.�

Accompanying Sister Fernandez and Cunningham on the visit were eighth-graders Shellbie Charles and Keyanna Francois; seventh-grader Briana Gaspard; and alumni David Adelson and Frantzy Gaspard, older brothers of two of the students.