By Christian Swiezy, fourth-grader
Faith, faith, faith. At a Catholic school you get to grow in your faith. We grow in our faith in religion class. We have friends at St. Mark who are kind friends. They support us during difficult times. You are able to make friends with everybody fast. We get to read with first-graders – our reading buddies – every week, and during Advent we made a unique wreath.
We go to Mass twice a week. On Tuesdays we pray the rosary before Mass. We also go on Friday. We have a Catholic Schools Week where we get to dress for the theme of that day. This year I wore an Andrew Luck jersey for favorite team day. We have kindergarten partners who we sit with on Friday Masses. We get to pray whenever we want, and we have religion class every day. I love that we read a devotion every day.
We have outstanding teachers who teach us in fun ways. Last year we did an Iditarod race and followed the real racers. Dallas Seavey won last year. Our teachers teach us by playing games in our subjects. The lunch ladies here are great too; they have good ideas for lunches. We get walking tacos, which is my favorite lunch, and we get a Christmas and Easter feast.
Our principal is unique because he tells funny jokes during the morning announcements. He also comes in each morning and talks to us. Our priest, Father Todd, is important to us. He is always like a friend here. Last year he gave our class cupcakes after we led Mass on Friday. Deacon Tom talks to our class. One time he taught us about the rosary.
Faith, faith, faith. At a Catholic school you get to grow in your faith. We grow in our faith in religion class. We have friends at St. Mark who are kind friends. They support us during difficult times. You are able to make friends with everybody fast. We get to read with first-graders – our reading buddies – every week, and during Advent we made a unique wreath.
We go to Mass twice a week. On Tuesdays we pray the rosary before Mass. We also go on Friday. We have a Catholic Schools Week where we get to dress for the theme of that day. This year I wore an Andrew Luck jersey for favorite team day. We have kindergarten partners who we sit with on Friday Masses. We get to pray whenever we want, and we have religion class every day. I love that we read a devotion every day.
We have outstanding teachers who teach us in fun ways. Last year we did an Iditarod race and followed the real racers. Dallas Seavey won last year. Our teachers teach us by playing games in our subjects. The lunch ladies here are great too; they have good ideas for lunches. We get walking tacos, which is my favorite lunch, and we get a Christmas and Easter feast.
Our principal is unique because he tells funny jokes during the morning announcements. He also comes in each morning and talks to us. Our priest, Father Todd, is important to us. He is always like a friend here. Last year he gave our class cupcakes after we led Mass on Friday. Deacon Tom talks to our class. One time he taught us about the rosary.
By Ava Rippetoe, fourth-grader
St. Mark has been around since 1948. Students here have been learning about faith for 68 years.
St. Mark is amazing because we believe in Jesus Christ. Deacon Tom comes into your classroom and talks about God. Once, Deacon Tom came in and we answered our questions. Father Todd is really good at talking about Christ. I love how we go to Mass twice a week at school.
We have the best staff in the universe. The lunch ladies are kind, and they serve delicious food. The principal, Mr. Albertson, goes around the school, and when he walks into your classroom he talks to you about being kind to others and things like that. He encourages you to be your best and talk to God every day. There is a no-bullying rule, so if you go here you won’t have to worry about that. Our teachers are wonderful. They care about us getting a good education.
We are blessed to have a lot of Chromebooks. Every classroom has a Chromebook cart. We do IXL (a learning website) on them. We have good books to read in the school library and all the classroom libraries. We have a spectacular Spell Bowl team. I am on the team, and I enjoy it every time we practice. We play sparkle, and if you win, you get a piece of candy (yum).
These are all the reasons I love my amazing Catholic school.
St. Mark has been around since 1948. Students here have been learning about faith for 68 years.
St. Mark is amazing because we believe in Jesus Christ. Deacon Tom comes into your classroom and talks about God. Once, Deacon Tom came in and we answered our questions. Father Todd is really good at talking about Christ. I love how we go to Mass twice a week at school.
We have the best staff in the universe. The lunch ladies are kind, and they serve delicious food. The principal, Mr. Albertson, goes around the school, and when he walks into your classroom he talks to you about being kind to others and things like that. He encourages you to be your best and talk to God every day. There is a no-bullying rule, so if you go here you won’t have to worry about that. Our teachers are wonderful. They care about us getting a good education.
We are blessed to have a lot of Chromebooks. Every classroom has a Chromebook cart. We do IXL (a learning website) on them. We have good books to read in the school library and all the classroom libraries. We have a spectacular Spell Bowl team. I am on the team, and I enjoy it every time we practice. We play sparkle, and if you win, you get a piece of candy (yum).
These are all the reasons I love my amazing Catholic school.
By Madison Smith, fifth-grader
If somebody asks me why I love St. Mark, I can come up with a million reasons; here are a few.
I love St. Mark because it is a no-bullying school. If you get bullied, take a stand. Tell the teachers and they’ll make sure you can get this off of your mind. When someone is bullying you, it is hard to focus on school. Our principal makes sure you’re focused on school, not bullies.
Faith, faith, faith. This is a Catholic school, so we put Jesus first, then subjects. Do you know how long St. Mark has taught religion? Sixty-eight years. Third-graders and up go to silent Mass on Tuesdays. The whole school goes to mass on Fridays. We have reconciliation every semester so we can be forgiven for our sins. The priests we go to are nice and don’t judge us of our sins. They’re all so determined to have our sins forgiven. Every time we receive reconciliation our friendship grows with Jesus. Jesus loves us, and we show him our love by going to a Catholic school and learning about him.
Another thing I love about Catholic schools is spirit week. Spirit week is the time to show your school spirit. During spirit week we have pep rallies and dress-up days. My favorite dress-up day is dress like someone in a movie. It’s so fun! We have to come up with the costume ideas, and it’s great to see who everyone is. At the end of Spirit week we dress in our spirit wear shirts. Spirit week is a fun, friendly way to interact with others.
A final favorite thing about Catholic schools is our can food drive. I like the can food drive because we are giving back to the community. We are lucky to eat dinner, lunch and breakfast, while other people in the world don’t have food. This is an opportunity to give to the needy. We set a goal every year for how many cans we want to give back. We give the cans to food pantries to give to the needy.
I love learning about Jesus and God. I love St. Mark Catholic school!
If somebody asks me why I love St. Mark, I can come up with a million reasons; here are a few.
I love St. Mark because it is a no-bullying school. If you get bullied, take a stand. Tell the teachers and they’ll make sure you can get this off of your mind. When someone is bullying you, it is hard to focus on school. Our principal makes sure you’re focused on school, not bullies.
Faith, faith, faith. This is a Catholic school, so we put Jesus first, then subjects. Do you know how long St. Mark has taught religion? Sixty-eight years. Third-graders and up go to silent Mass on Tuesdays. The whole school goes to mass on Fridays. We have reconciliation every semester so we can be forgiven for our sins. The priests we go to are nice and don’t judge us of our sins. They’re all so determined to have our sins forgiven. Every time we receive reconciliation our friendship grows with Jesus. Jesus loves us, and we show him our love by going to a Catholic school and learning about him.
Another thing I love about Catholic schools is spirit week. Spirit week is the time to show your school spirit. During spirit week we have pep rallies and dress-up days. My favorite dress-up day is dress like someone in a movie. It’s so fun! We have to come up with the costume ideas, and it’s great to see who everyone is. At the end of Spirit week we dress in our spirit wear shirts. Spirit week is a fun, friendly way to interact with others.
A final favorite thing about Catholic schools is our can food drive. I like the can food drive because we are giving back to the community. We are lucky to eat dinner, lunch and breakfast, while other people in the world don’t have food. This is an opportunity to give to the needy. We set a goal every year for how many cans we want to give back. We give the cans to food pantries to give to the needy.
I love learning about Jesus and God. I love St. Mark Catholic school!
By Raymond Hmuifoo, fifth-grader
Did you ever go to Mass three or more times a week?
I do every week, twice with my class and once with my family. Do you know something that all Catholic schools have in common? They’re all awesome, especially St. Mark.
We learn about Jesus’ life and how he died for us. During Advent we made paper Jesse trees, which represented biblical stories.
Teachers and staff, of course, make up a big and an important part of the school. Without them we wouldn’t be able to learn anything. In fact, I think we’d all be unsuccessful without them. Our instructors teach us every day, whether they want to or not. The band teacher teaches us about playing instruments. I play the saxophone but didn’t know how to play a single note at first. Now I can play simple songs. I played “Jingle Bells” at the Christmas concert at school.
Father Todd and Deacon Tom also help us learn. They teach us about Jesus and are great role models to us. When we altar serve and make a mistake, they let us know while telling us what to do next time. I’m grateful for their help.
Another reason I love my school is because I get to go to recess. I have had past experiences where I was not able to have recess during the school day. I did not enjoy it.
If you’ve ever been in a Catholic school, you know this is all true. But if you have never been educated in one, I hope you learned how awesome Catholic schools all are.
Did you ever go to Mass three or more times a week?
I do every week, twice with my class and once with my family. Do you know something that all Catholic schools have in common? They’re all awesome, especially St. Mark.
We learn about Jesus’ life and how he died for us. During Advent we made paper Jesse trees, which represented biblical stories.
Teachers and staff, of course, make up a big and an important part of the school. Without them we wouldn’t be able to learn anything. In fact, I think we’d all be unsuccessful without them. Our instructors teach us every day, whether they want to or not. The band teacher teaches us about playing instruments. I play the saxophone but didn’t know how to play a single note at first. Now I can play simple songs. I played “Jingle Bells” at the Christmas concert at school.
Father Todd and Deacon Tom also help us learn. They teach us about Jesus and are great role models to us. When we altar serve and make a mistake, they let us know while telling us what to do next time. I’m grateful for their help.
Another reason I love my school is because I get to go to recess. I have had past experiences where I was not able to have recess during the school day. I did not enjoy it.
If you’ve ever been in a Catholic school, you know this is all true. But if you have never been educated in one, I hope you learned how awesome Catholic schools all are.