Best of the Week 2020-2021: Holy Cross Values

ST. ED'S COMMUNITY CELEBRATES OUR UNIQUE CATHOLIC SCHOOL IDENTITY FOR THE ANNUAL CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

The St. Ed's community has rallied together to provide students, faculty and staff with fun activities and surprises this week to celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Associate Dean of Student Life & Leadership Matt Wallenhorst '05 and the St. Ed's Parents Club, under the direction of Manager of School Hospitality Mo Loesch and VP of Mission Effectiveness Liam Haggerty '02, went above and beyond to celebrate Catholic education and make the St. Ed's community feel appreciated. "We wanted to make sure that our students understand the value of a Catholic education and this year, our Catholic Schools Week efforts have showcased that much more than previous years," says Mr. Wallenhorst. "The fact that we have been operating in-person this year amidst the pandemic has helped us keep up with most of our activities, allowing students the chance to learn with their peers which is a testament to the commitment of our administration, faculty and staff and many others who've found ways to keep our community safe and stay true to our identity. Celebrating the work that all of these groups have done this year is important and we of course want much of it to be student oriented too." As a way of saying thank you to our faculty, staff and administrators, the St. Ed's Parents Club put together daily surprises for our school's leaders from snacks and sweet treats to St. Ed's face masks and scratch-off lottery tickets. To provide an engaging and COVID-friendly Catholic Schools Week for our students, Mr. Wallenhorst created a scavenger hunt around campus using QR code technology for participants to find ten clues that highlighted our Holy Cross background and Catholic identity. To boost school spirit, the community participated in a Green and Gold Dress Down Day today and the Junior class sponsored a socially distanced watch party for students to watch tonight's Varsity Basketball game against Saint Ignatius and our Varsity Gold Hockey team against Shaker. "This was also a great week to focus on Black History Month and Mental Health Awareness Month with everything else going on," says Mr. Wallenhorst. "At their core, our Catholic Schools Week activities have been about bringing people together and helping them understand themselves and others more deeply, a true testament to the principles and values we cherish as a Holy Cross school."