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St. Charles celebrates love
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Kindergarteners and second-graders raise their hands to demonstrate love and togetherness during a musical selection in their Celebrate Love concert..From the left: James Campbell, Jenna Frommelt, Isabella DeBarr, Isabella Escobar, Kayelan Crofford and Rylee Reese.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Kindergartener Ed Driscoll says that love is being kind to everyone. Ethan Palowitz (left) Ben Blasko (center) and Mick Hergenrother listens with all ears.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.St. Charles School kicked-off its Catholic School Week with a Celebrate Love musical performance. First-graders and kindergarteners came together to spread love through singing and gesturing.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
sbhakeem@vindy.com
St. Charles School kicked off Catholic Schools Week Monday with a musical and heartfelt performance from their kindergartners and second-graders.
Family, friends and students crowded the school gymnasium to see the students perform in a Celebrate Love program.
Each year, Catholic Schools Week is initiated at St. Charles by some type of activity or event. The school wanted to change things around this year and have the second-graders work with the kindergartners demonstrating the importance of teamwork.
“Last year we started the week in the parish with singing and praying,” music teacher Laura Kotheimer said. “We wanted to keep the singing, but do things a little different this year.”
The students had been preparing for the event for three weeks by first practicing in small groups, then altogether for the last week. Kotheimer said the students worked hard on the songs and were excited to perform them for everyone.
Students sang 11 songs, all of which pertained to love and friendship. They danced, marched and jumped to the beat of each musical selection. The students were also able to show off their instrumental talent by playing small drums, tambourines and bells.
Before each song, students were given the opportunity to individually express what love means to them. A small group would stand and perform a short skit by taking turns tapping one another and talking about the meaning of love.
Boardman resident Eva Murphy came out to see her granddaughter sing in the Celebrate Love performance. She was surprised at how well the musical showcase came together.
“I thought it was great. They did a wonderful job,” Murphy said.
The overall theme for the week deals with spreading love and accepting diversity among one other and in the community. The Celebrate Love performance started Catholic school week, but St. Charles had many other events planned for the remaining four days.
Students were able to hang up their uniforms to participate in weekly activities and events to celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Monday was patriotic day where students wore red, white and blue.
Tuesday was activity day and students were able to wear jeans, sweatsuits and tennis shoes. Kindergartners through third-graders participated in bowling at Camelot Lanes in Boardman while the fourth- through eighth-graders skated at the Youngstown Skate in Youngstown.
Liturgy and Feast of St. Blaise Day was Wednesday where students dressed up and participated in the tradition of having their throats blessed.
Jerseys, T-shirts, jackets and jeans were allowed for team day on Thursday. The week concluded Friday with colorful blessings day.
To demonstrate diversity, students wore differing solid colored shirts and prayed together to celebrate individuality and blessings. State Sen. Joe Schiavoni made a special appearance to speak to the students about diversity.