Catholic School's Week - Over and Done

Last week we celebrated Catholic School's Week at our small but awesome school.  Each day had a different theme that we focused on.

Monday was Jeans for Jesus Day.  Students were allowed to wear jeans instead of their traditional uniform and school t-shirt.  If students chose to participate they brought a $1 which we donated to the Missionary Childhood Association. 

Tuesday was Service Day which is where each classroom focused their activities for the day around their Service Learning Project.  In case you missed my post last year on our Service Learning, you can see it here. 

Wednesday was Career Day and each teacher arranged to have parents or alumni come and talk to the students about their jobs.  Students also got to dress up like their future profession and explain to the class what that was.

Thursday was Holy Men and Women Day.  Students chose either a biblical character or a Saint to dress up as.  Or they could just bring something to symbolize that person.  The students spoke to the class about who they chose and why.

And finally, Friday was our mass celebration where the entire school went to church.

Overall, it's a fun (but exhausting week) for all involved.  In addition to the daily activities, each teacher also had to complete two extra projects with their class.  One was to lead our classes in writing a letter to their parents thanking them for the sacrifices they make to send their child to a private school.  Most of the classes just wrote handwritten thank you letters for their parents.  But since my kids and I am addicted to QR Codes, we incorporated that into our cards.  First, students had to write a rough draft of the letter they wanted to give their parents.  After I reviewed their draft, students used the App "Show Me" on their iPad to record an audio of their letter to their parents.  Here is an example of one that my students completed:



After students completed their audio video, they then went to QRStuff to create the QR Code they would put into the thank you card they made.  The QR Code was linked to the web address that their video was hosted on.  They then copy and pasted that QR Code into the thank you card template we created in Pages.  The front of the card had the words "Thank you" and a picture of the student and inside the card was the QR Code with a message to scan it with their smartphone (or their child's iPad) to see a video.  The kids really enjoyed the whole process. One of my students compared it to the greeting cards you can buy at the store and record a message inside it.  They are exactly right - except this card is hand created saving you about $6! :-)

In addition, they learned how to create the same codes I was creating for their math videos.  One students even took this learning experience and applied it to their Science Fair project which they presented this week.  On their presentation board they put a QR Code which when scanned showed them actually conducting the experiment.  How clever!!

Front Side of Card

Inside of Card

The other project each class had to complete was an art project.  The only guidelines that we were given was it had to tie into Religion.  The project I chose could be used with ANY topic and the students were really proud of their final product.  I found and printed out an outline of a cross with a dove that the students had to cut out.  Next, they were given a piece of white construction paper and were instructed to paint it with their watercolors.  While the watercolors were wet, they then sprinkled salt over it to produce a unique look.  I was really happy with how they turned out.  Here's some examples:

We had a great week but I'll admit it's nice to be back into our regular routine.

Do you celebrate Catholic School's Week?  If so, what did you do?