I was planning to write about the activities and events that happened during Catholic Schools Week. However, Catholic Schools Week turned out to be pretty much the week that wasn’t due to weather. It was more like “Catholic Schools Two Days.”

It began well enough. The weekend Masses, with the students participating, were beautiful. The science fair exhibits were on display for parishioners to view as they enjoyed refreshments after each Mass.

On Monday Mayor Willman came to school and proclaimed the week of Jan. 28 to be Catholic Schools Week in Greenville, and Fr. White opened the week with prayer.

Sam Jones, a missionary from Damascus Catholic Mission Campus, led the students in a fun-filled faith and learning experience. Sam, by the way, is an alumni of St. Mary’s and the uncle of several of our current students.

As is our tradition, we celebrated “Bubble Wrap Day” on which the halls were lined with, you guessed it, bubble wrap and all the students did what you do with bubble wrap. No, not wrap fragile items for shipping … they jumped on it. Who can resist popping bubble wrap?

On Tuesday, the sixth graders visited Sidney Lehman High School and the families of students with last names beginning with A-K joined their children for lunch.

Then Old Man Winter pulled out all the stops and for three days we were hit with snow, frigid temperatures, and wind. School did not resume until the following Monday. The families who had not joined their children for lunch the previous week were invited to do so on Wednesday, Feb. 6. Most of the missed activities were canceled.

However, the principal and teachers decided that we would reschedule two of the favorites that had been missed. The movie that had been scheduled for Friday afternoon will be shown in March. We decided that there was an awful long stretch between February and Easter break, and a movie might be a welcomed treat. Buddy Bingo will be scheduled near the end of school. Although Special Person Day is not going to be rescheduled, the students are welcome to invite their special persons to come and eat lunch anytime.

I mentioned that the science fair exhibits were on display for visitors to view after the Masses opening Catholic Schools Week. Personnel from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base came to judge the science fair projects on Friday, Jan. 25. Students were judged on the basis of their projects’ content and presentation, and the student’s explanation of the project. The judges awarded points and the top three winners for each grade were then determined.

The top three fifth grade students were Isabel Badell, in first place; Ava Glass, second place; and Brooklyn Kreusch, third place. The sixth grader in first place was Charlie Pope. Ashton Noggle and Lauren Schmitmeyer tied for second place. In the seventh grade, the top three students were Alex Hadden, first place; Lydia Beisner in second; and Anne Gibson, third. First place in eighth grade was Carson Pope and in second place Lauren Wright. Mariah Kreusch, Luke D. Rammel and Luke F. Rammel all tied for third place. Carson scored enough points to take his project to the District Science Day.

The students do a marvelous job with their projects and that is not just my slightly prejudiced view. The science fair used to be held in the spring. However, when Mrs. Foster invited personnel from Wright-Patterson to judge the projects, they were very impressed with the students and their projects, and encouraged her to have the science fair earlier so that the projects could qualify for the District Science Day at Edison College.

The spelling bee was held Feb. 6. It had been rescheduled from an earlier date due to … what else? The weather. The spelling bee is open to any second through eighth grader who passes an earlier written test. The top three spellers were Carson Pope, Adam Edwards, and Lauren Wright.

The geography bee was held Jan. 17. The top three students were Carson Pope, Lydia Beisner, and Andrew Winner. Carson is awaiting the results of his online test to see if he qualified for the state level. The results will be announced March 4.

The preschoolers and kindergarteners through fourth graders celebrated Valentine’s Day on Feb. 15. Their teachers decided Friday was a much better party day than Thursday. The third and fourth graders had some of their valentine boxes on display outside their classroom doors. There were some very interesting boxes including one that looked like a robot. I have to say my person favorite was the one that came with a padlock. Somebody wanted to make sure no candy or valentines went astray!

Until next month, keep warm or cool. With Ohio weather you never know!