By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -
Coach Sam Curatalo, leading the St. Michael station, shows students how the final thank you cards will appear with the yellow ribbon and St. Michael the Archangel medallion attached.
Prayer rocks of various sizes were blessed and decorated at the St. Peregrine station. These prayer rocks will be delivered to Memorial Hospital Cancer Treatment Centers.
Sixth grader Brooke San Filippo shows the final product of her work at the St. Jude station. After making the get well cards, students at the St. Jude station helped fill chemo care packages for patients at the Joe DiMaggio Pediatric Oncology department.
At the St. Francis of Assisi station, fourth grader Kendal Moberg and her classmates decorated bandanas for animals at the Humane Society of Broward.
Sean Provin, left, and Chris Wilson are two eighth graders who helped with the St. Francis of Assisi station, where dog bandanas were decorated for the Humane Society of Broward.
Newcomer to the Service Day at St. David was Father Fenly Saint-Jean, parochial vicar. He was more than eager to help tie knots at the end of comfort blankets with students at the St. Monica station. The blankets will be delivered to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
St. David art teacher Angela Curatalo had a combination of painted hand and helping hands at her St. Paul station. The canvas artwork consisting of colorful hand prints will be delivered to long-term patients at Joe DiMaggio's Children Hospital.
At the St. Paul station, students had their hands painted and then printed onto a canvas to create a unique "Love" canvas. All of the art created will be donated to long-term patients at the Joe DiMaggio Children Hospital.
Photography: CRISTINA CABRERA | FC
DAVIE | When the saints came marching in, the students, faculty and staff at St. David School followed their footsteps.
On Oct. 30, the school celebrated Service Day, its second annual school-wide service learning project, which engages students from PK-3 to eighth grade to participate in projects that meet the needs of the community while teaching about the saints.
Sixth grader Brooke San Filippo shows the final product of her work at the St. Jude station. After making the get well cards, students at the St. Jude station helped fill chemo care packages for patients at the Joe DiMaggio Pediatric Oncology department.
“This is exciting and new,” said Faith Halowiki, a mother of five, all of whom attend, or have attended, St. David. “My older kids wish that they had more time with this project. There really is an opportunity to help out the community here.”
Via several tasks throughout the day, the students were encouraged to model themselves after six saints and the charismatic qualities they represent:
- St. Francis of Assisi (patron saint of animals).
- St. Michael the Archangel (patron saint of the military).
- St. Monica (patron saint of mothers).
- St. Peregrine (patron saint of cancer patients).
- St. Paul (patron saint of Catholic action).
- St. Jude (patron saint of hopeless causes).
At the station for St. Francis of Assisi, students were given dog bandanas of various sizes to decorate for the Humane Societyof Broward County. With a variety of markers and a list of words to choose from, bandanas transformed from plain canvases to vibrant, paw-printed, doggy-boned “woof” fashion.
Sean Provin and Chris Wilson, both eighth grade students, assisted with the St. Francis station. Carrying a stuffed black Labrador puppy as the bandana model, Sean showed his younger peers how the final product would appear.
“They’re calling me the dog whisperer,” Sean said, after many of the PK-3 students were convinced that the toy dog was real.
“It’s been funner to work with the PK-3 students,” Chris added. “Since they can’t spell big words yet, we’ve had the chance to jump in and help them spell and draw.”
The Service Learning Day at St. David is run almost entirely by the eighth grade students. They help faculty and staff prepare the materials. They assist with the prayer of the saint at their designated station. And they supervise the work of underclassmen, jumping in when necessary.
“It’s really interesting to watch how they start off the day, somewhat timid, and insecure. By the end of the day, if they’re comfortable enough to be bossing us around, we know that they have done a good job,” said Kristen Whiting, the curriculum coordinator and one of the innovators behind Service Learning Day.
At the St. Peregrine station, which decorated prayer rocks for cancer patients at Memorial Hospital Cancer Treatment Centers, counselor Leslie Borden watched as the eighth graders distributed paint.
“Not to put a pun with this station, but they have definitely rocked it,” said Borden. “They have been fantastic helpers by learning how to work in a group with different ages. They are the future movers and shakers.”
The eighth graders took the day as an opportunity to prepare for future service learning required in high school. But they were reminded that volunteer work can also be fun.
“It’s been pretty cool,” said Gunnar Martinez, who helped wash the blue, yellow, purple, green, red and orange hands at the St. Paul canvas artwork station. With a layering of colored hands, the canvases showed the word “LOVE” in white letters. The artworks are to go to children who are long-term patients at the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood.
Father Fenly Saint-Jean, associate pastor at St. David, smiled as he overlooked the St. Jude station, where an assembly line of students filled chemotherapy care packages with fluffy socks, plush turtles, plastic utensils, smiley-face stress balls, ChapStick, tissues, lemonhead candies, and gum.
“It is something great for them to be involved and get to be aware that there are other kids out there in need," Father Saint-Jean said. "That is truly sharing the love.”
Later, he lent a helping hand at the St. Monica station, where students knotted the ends of plush comfort blankets. The blankets will be delivered to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
“They are learning about the saints, they are asking questions, and they are learning more about our faith,” Father Saint-Jean ssaid, as he tied a knot to the end of a powdery blue blanket with a lily pond on it. The students bless and pray over the blankets as well, said Kristen Whiting, the curriculum coordinator. She said nurses at DiMaggio Hospital have voiced gratitude for that.
“When they are not wrapped, the mothers ask the nurses to keep the blankets at the feet of their children,” Whiting added.
Bottom line for the project, besides learning about saints, is to teach students "to live as Jesus taught us,” said Jane Broder, the principal at St. David. “This school-wide project teaches children what our faith is all about. To always look at helping others first.”
