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CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHINGS IN ACTION
The Service & Religion Committees of our Student Council regularly engage our entire school community in service projects designed to put our faith into action and demonstrate the power of our Catholic Social Teachings.
An Fine Example of Community...St. Mary's School hosts The Banquet of Holy Men and Women
What do an apple, a ruler, a P.O.W. symbol and a turkey have in common? These were the symbols that eighth grader, Mary Korycansky, painted on her place setting to describe the honoree she chose for the Banquet of Holy Men and Women recently held at St. Mary's School. That special person who inspired her is Jack Bannon of Simsbury, also known as the founder of the Turkey Trot, a program which donates thousands of pounds of food at Thanksgiving for needy families.
"I picked Jack because he was a local Christian figure that I really admire and heard so much about and felt that he deserved some praise," she wrote.
Jack attended the banquet, and after reading the essay, he admired her goblet which displayed the words faith, hope and strength. The ruler and apple signify his many years of teaching at Squadron Line School, and the POW symbol represents the five months he spent in a concentration camp, after being captured in The Battle of the Bulge during World War II. As a POW, he often experienced the pain of hunger, which was the underlying reason for his founding of the Turkey Trot.
Mary was one of 29 eighth graders who, along with their parents and guests, participated in the Banquet of Holy Men and Women in celebration of Catholic Schools Week during January. The Banquet, which was held in conjunction with a Mass, is modeled after an art exhibit created by Judy Chicago in the 1970's, known as "The Dinner Party". The multi media art exhibit has traveled worldwide with over a million viewers, and it features a triangular table adorned with 39 place settings, representing 39 women's contributions to Western Civilization.
The St. Mary's eighth graders were asked to "invite" one person to dinner whose life inspired them to want to live as a better Christian. Each student prepared a place setting including beautifully designed cloth placemats and ceramic goblets and plates which they decorated with artwork symbolizing the lives of their "invited guests." They also wrote essays describing how these people positively influenced their lives, ending the prose with three questions for their dinner guest. Some students chose saints such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Matthew, and St. Catherine, while others wrote about Hollywood figures that had made significant contributions to various charities, such as Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang. A few students honored local people including Blair Wlochowski, a volunteer in the school's Rite of Passage leadership program, and Pastor Brad Moger, the Youth Minister at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Three students chose teachers, two selected a grandparent, and two honored a parent, including one boy who wrote candidly: "My mom. She can be annoying and nag a lot, but she has taught me very much..The reason I invited her is because she has inspired me to work hard; to get things done without complaining; to just do it."
Two Avon participants, Paula Bompane and Angela DiFrancesco, chose Clara Barton and St. Therese of Little Flower as their inspirations. "I invited Clara because her life, actions, and attitude towards helping others really inspire me.," Angela wrote. Her place setting was decorated in red and white with The Red Cross symbol prominent on her plate and goblet. Paula's place setting featured flowers and symbols of the crown, and her essayed highlighted St. Therese's persistence in overcoming adversity. St. Therese's mother and father died when she was four, and she entered the convent at a young age. In 1925, she became the youngest saint to "enter God's beautiful garden of Saints."
Joe Kevorkian of Simsbury invited Ed Looney, a Simsbury resident who passed away a few years ago, after many years of volunteering on the St. Mary's playground. His widow, Mrs. Looney, attended the banquet and gazed at the plate which depicted Joe's fond memories of her husband. Joe had painted a swing set, a basketball, a tether ball game and a cross on the place setting in memory of the playground supervisor. Joe was inspired by his nice, peaceful manner as well as his sense of humor and ability to gain respect of the students. In fourth grade, Joe witnessed Mr. Looney collapse on the playground, and when he went to the hospital, "I made sure to pray for him whenever I could," Joe wrote. "Whenever I was in trouble.I was supposed to sit on the sidewalk for five minutes, but he had me count to 60 as fast as I could, and made a game of it. He understood that I needed to get out and have a fun recess. After I counted to 60 in about twenty seconds, he let me go.. He often said: Go as far as you can, and when you get there, you will always be able to see further. We all miss you Mr. Looney."
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