Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, October 22-28,2015
Page16A
Students sing traditional hymns during mass.
St. Peter Claver Regional Catholic School’s butterfly garden.
St. Peter Claver Regional Catholic School students assist in the procession during mass.
Catholic students celebrate their faith
by Ashley Oglesby
ashley@dekalbchamp.com
For more than 50 years St.
Peter Claver Regional Catho
lic School (SPC), formerly
known as Saints Peter and
Paul Parish, has educated ele
mentary school students pre
kindergarten through eighth
grade within the Archdiocese
of Atlanta community.
Since the schools incep
tion it has expanded across
the region with campuses in
Clarkston, Lithonia, Conyers,
Forest Park and Decatur.
On Oct. 21 St. Peter
Claver Regional Catholic
School leaders hosted a mul
ticultural and multilingual
mass aimed to re-establish
the schools presence in the
community and “celebrate its
diverse population, accord
ing to Director of Admissions
and Development Meaghan
Schroeder.
“We hadn’t done this in a
while and its pretty common
for our Catholic community
to celebrate different masses
that represent and integrate
our diverse Catholic culture
and community,” Schroeder
said.
She added, “This year be
cause we have such a nice mix
of families and parents that
are really engaged and invest
ed in the school we decided to
organize this mass.”
Schroeder said although
the school regularly holds
mass on Wednesdays at 9
a.m., this mass aims to get
the students to “connect and
recognize those that look
similar and maybe speak their
same language” who also are
in “very significant and im
portant positions within their
church and within their faith.”
The mass featured special
guest Bishop Luis Zarama
from Auxiliary Bishop of the
Catholic Archdiocese of At
lanta, Deacon Peter Swan and
Deacon A1 Mitchell of Saints
Peter and Paul Parish.
Principal Susanne Green
wood said, “It’s very good for
[students] to see the expan
siveness of our archdiocese.”
She added, “To have a
bishop or an archbishop come
to our school makes our stu
dents feel special and a part
of a larger community. Even
in our hierarchy at the church
there’s diversity.”
Following the mass, par
ents and grandparents shared
native dishes.
Parent volunteers brought
foods from Nigeria, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba,
Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Co
lombia, Mexico, Thailand and
Myanmar.
SPC currently has 93 stu
dents enrolled in its elemen
tary school and teaches from
a curriculum that is focused
on science, technology, reli
gion, engineering, arts and
math.
For additional informa
tion on St. Peter Claver Re
gional Catholic visit www.
spc-school.org.
Columbia High alumni encourage students
Columbia High School (CHS)
alumni participated in the Destined
to Soar program on Sept. 25 to pro
mote educational excellence and
connect with current students. The
initiative was founded and orga
nized by Viniece Jennings, an en
vironmental expert who previously
interned at the White House for the
Obama Administration.
“There’s the saying that ‘it takes
a village to raise a child. This initia
tive is about alumni recognizing
their role as a part of the village
and giving back to the school that
helped set our foundation,” Jen
nings said.
This year’s alumni panel includ
ed Brigadier Gen. Richard Dix with
the U.S. Army; Taylor Bryant, as
sistant director of communications
at University of West Georgia; Phil
lip “Clint” McCrary, a state proba
tion officer who previously helped
coach the boy’s basketball team to
five state championships; Danielle
Bell, a finance manager with Gen
eral Electric; Brandon McPherson,
a vice president at Goldman Sachs;
and Ravi Windom, CEO of The
Wind Public Relations firm.
“If it wasn’t for my CHS fam
ily - alumni, teachers, coaches, and
fellow classmates, I wouldn’t be who
I am today,” McCray said. They in
vested a lot of time and effort into
me to ensure I stayed on the right
path. Although, I could never put a
monetary value on what they gave
me, in an effort to pay them back,
the best thing I can continue to do
is pay it forward. The Destined to
Soar program gives me another
avenue to make a difference in my
community by giving the youth the
attention that I was given.”
Along with an assembly, the ini
tiative facilitates care packages and
athletic gear for less fortunate stu
dents. The initiative also promotes
alumni spotlight posters which are
displayed around the school. Dur
ing the program, upperclassman
took a pledge to value their educa
tion and soar in life. They also re
ceive wristbands to remember their
pledge for excellence.
McPherson said “It was a honor
to participate in this initiative. My
experience at Columbia played a
key role in my story.. .paying it for
ward to today’s students brought
things full circle.”
Teachers and students also had
the chance to win raffle give away
items. The event was sponsored by
alumni of Columbia High School,
Georgia Department of Community
Supervision and State Farm Agent
Josh Davis of Lithia Springs.