March
The importance of the Lenten season
By Riley Studinski - Knight Writer
Student Journalist - Lourdes Academy
OSHKOSH, WI Lent is the time Christians annually prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which this year is from March 6 - April 18.
Every year, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday falls on a different day each year but always on a Wednesday.
According to catholic.org, Ash Wednesday is one of the most holy days in the Liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday. The ashes that are placed on the forehead symbolize the dust from which God made us. Ashes also symbolize grief: the grief that people have sinned and that they have caused division from God.
Lent is a season of fasting, reflection, and penance. On Fridays during Lent, Catholics are not supposed to eat meat. Most people also give something up or come up with something to improve in themselves during Lent, similar to a New Year's Resolution but only for 40 days.
Toward the end of the Lenten season, the Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday celebrates when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and all of the people who were expecting him laid out palm branches on the street in front of him. This is also why we burn palm branches and turn them into ashes for Ash Wednesday.
However, a lot of people did not like Jesus including the priests and others in charge, so they prepared to put Jesus to death.
On Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, Jesus held the famous Last Supper where he shared his last meal with his disciples and prepared Judas to betray him.
On Good Friday, Jesus was taken by the Romans and sentenced to death. Later that day he was crucified on the cross. Jesus could have escaped from the Romans and left Jerusalem, but He chose to die on the cross to save our sins.
Three days after Good Friday, on Easter Sunday, Jesus returned to life and was resurrected from the dead, and it is considered the final day of the Lenten season.
Sixth graders trek to Trees for Tomorrow
By Noah Ralofsky - Knight Writer
Student Journalist - Lourdes Academy
OSHKOSH, WI - Lourdes Academy sixth graders and staff traveled to Eagle River in February for their annual Trees for Tomorrow experience.
For the seventh year in a row, sixth grade language arts teacher Kathy Horejs has taken the sixth grade students to Trees for Tomorrow in upper Wisconsin. Trees for Tomorrow is a 40 acre institution that teaches attendees of all ages the value of sustainability and other nature-related topics.
While there, the students participated in a number of outdoor activities. Sixth grader Hannah Kelltz’s favorite activity was cross country skiing in the wooded trail. Other outdoor activities offered were snowshoeing, completing a compass orienteering course, and roasting marshmallows by the fire.
As well as outdoor activities, the students also studied various environmental topics such as animal adaptations, biomimicry, identifying different tree species, and learning about different animals and their environments.
Horejs said she continues to bring her students to Trees for Tomorrow because she values the unique learning experience that cannot be replicated at Lourdes. Aside from the knowledge standpoint, Horejs said is also fond of the learning experiences the students receive like sleeping in dorm-like buildings. She believes the “living together experience” will help them prepare for the futures by making new friends and working on problem solving on a personal level with their roommates. Sixth grader Ava Geffers agreed saying her favorite part of the trip was the cabins and her roommates.
Horejs and many students agreed that their favorite memory from this year’s adventure was the cross country skiing. “On the last day, we all went out to ski,” Horejs said. “It was around 1ºF that morning and had snowed the night before, so the path was covered with snow! We all had to stomp down the snow with our skis to make our own path!” Horejs also said they had to ski through a tree trail.
“It was a beautiful, sunny day. All of the trees around us were covered in snow. It was beautiful! At the beginning, all of the kids were bundled up for the weather. But, by the end of the ski trip, they were all sweating through their layers because the trip was so hard. We were all exhausted!”
Fifth graders D.A.R.E to be different
Charleigh Reinardy - Knight Writer
Student Journalist - Lourdes Academy
OSHKOSH, WI - Maria Biebel’s and Maddie VanVreeden’s fifth grade classes are currently enrolled in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E) to learn how to say no to drugs and alcohol.
The fifth graders began participating in the D.A.R.E program three weeks ago and have been spending one to two days a week with a local police officer learning the importance of saying no to peer pressure and how to stay safe as they get older.
In the spring of the 2017-2018 school year, the Oshkosh Police Department wasn’t able to create the funds needed to support a D.A.R.E program in schools. Thankfully, for Lourdes, however, a retired officer volunteered his time to teach the fifth graders and work with Lourdes juniors who serve as role models to the fifth graders.
This year, the police department was able to run the D.A.R.E program again. Officer Heather Brickham is one of the newly trained D.A.R.E officers who began teaching classes this year.
The fifth grade teachers are also glad that the students are able to participate in D.A.R.E. again. “I love that they get to learn from a police officer who has the real life experience,” Biebel said. “It’s great that they can interact with the police officer in a positive light and learn the things that will help them be better in the future,” Biebel said.
Both fifth grade classes shared how important it is to them to learn about peer pressure they may encounter. The students said they love the hands-on activities they participate in throughout the program such as group activities and skits. The students said that D.A.R.E is a nice break from their day to day classroom life, and they love the lessons they are learning.