Banner days at St. Chris

Girls from St. Christopher School had a blast at the Father Daughter Dance last Saturday.

Tim Baker/Herald

Students had to spell out long words using teamwork in the game show event at St. Christopher School during National Catholic Schools Week last Friday.

Brian Croce/Herald

Greg Mulligon attended the dance with his 4-year-old daughter Grace, who is in pre-K at St. Christopher School.

Tim Baker/Herald

Jonathon Stasi-Welsh represented the Red Team in an intense game of Simon Says last week at St. Christopher School during National Catholic Schools week. Allen Strauss, of Hollyrock Entertainment, played Simon and looked to make the students slip up.

Brian Croce/Herald

Children had to know their numbers for the game show event last Friday.

Brian Croce/Herald

Fourth grader Mia Freymann, 9, left, and her dad William, second from left, with fourth grader Andrea Centeno, 9, and her dad Tito.

Tim Baker/Herald

Third and fourth graders on the white team used all their strength in a tough tug-of-war contest.

Brian Croce/Herald

Donelle Gebo and his daughter Alani, 7, had fun at the dance.

Tim Baker/Herald

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On any given week at St. Christopher School you can find students working on interesting projects and teachers planning challenging lessons or events. During National Catholic Schools Week, however, which was celebrated last week across the country, the school, off Merrick Road, was jam-packed with events and lessons that celebrated its history and the students who attend it.

For more than 25 years, St. Christopher has taken part in the special week, which is led by the National Catholic Educational Association. In Baldwin, six days of activities were planned, but classes were canceled on Jan. 27 due to heavy snowfall. Still, students, teachers and administrators enjoyed the week’s unique events.

It kicked off on Jan. 26 with an open house, offering potential students and their parents the chance to take a tour of the school. Honor Society and Student Council members led the tours, while parent volunteers spoke about the school and its programs.

At a pep rally that afternoon, members of from the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams squared off in a mixed-roster game before a crowd of their classmates. Children also took part in a free-throw contest.

Principal Anne Lederer and six teachers teamed up on a committee that was tasked with planning the week. It continues to evolve from year to year, Lederer explained, as activities are added, like the pep rally, two years ago, while others are replaced.

On Jan. 28, students took over as teachers, nurse and principal. Billy Stockdale, 13, an eighth-grader who has attended St. Christopher since kindergarten, led a lesson in a fifth-grade classroom. After consulting with the teacher, Billy decided to lead a spelling bee, and said that the younger students were completely engaged.

The experience was eye-opening, he said. “It felt like something I’d want to do in the future, because it was fun to teach people,” he said.

The following day, a variety of local people came in to speak to students about their careers, and younger children worked on projects with senior citizens they had invited to school. Lederer said that the seniors event was added last year, and has been a schoolwide favorite.