Students donate money, time, sandwiches and more

Compiled by Jessica Marsala
Special to the Review
 
St. Joseph, Fullerton, students pair up as Halloween “Reading Buddies”
 
“Reading buddies” Michelle Petrosino (second grade) and Patrick McDonald (seventh grade). (Courtesy Paula Beres)
Recently older students at St. Joseph School in Fullerton, such as seventh-grader Patrick McDonald, paired up with younger students such as second-grader Michelle Petrosino to help them with their reading. After reading a pumpkin book together, Petrosino and McDonald then worked on a Halloween craft. According to a press release, the “Reading Buddies” program of St. Joseph meets a couple times throughout the school year. “Middle school students don’t get to see the younger students a lot,” said McDonald, according to the press release. “It was nice to spend time with Michelle and get to know her”. 
 
St. Luke students, teachers raise money for charity  
At the completion of the Our Lady of Hope/ St. Luke School “Get Pied” contest, Father Austin Murphy received a Dangerously Delicious pie to the face because his students raised $89, the highest amount. The contest, which the eighth grade National Junior Honor Society organized, according to the school’s Facebook page and a press release, was an effort to raise money  for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) in honor of the Orioles and as part of the school’s theme “Do Something.” In total, the school raised about $351.
See video of the event:

Father Austin Murphy awaits his pie, the prize for his students having raised the most money for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS). (Courtesy of Janet Myers)
 
Teaching Mass gives Cristo Rey non-Catholics opportunity to receive sacraments
In preparation for Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s traditional Teaching Mass, called an “experiential learning opportunity,” by  Father Jack Mattimore, junior Rodrigo Bermudez and freshman Luisa Osorio learned about the Mass and received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At the Mass itself Oct. 21, both received the Eucharist for the first time.
According to an email from Jessica Gregg, the school’s communication director, the majority of students at the school are not Catholic, but the Teaching Mass gives them the opportunity to better understand the components of the Mass and their importance.

Rodrigo Bermudez, a junior at Cristo Rey Jesuit, receives his first Communion from Rev. Jack Mattimore, SJ. (Courtesy of Jessica Gregg)

“We not only want our students to learn about God, but to have an experience with God,” said Justin White, a theology teacher at Cristo Rey, according to the email. “That’s why I’m so excited that this happened in our school, because it shows that God comes off the pages.”
 
St. Mark students wear pink, raise money for breast cancer
Students at St. Mark School in Catonsville recently donated $432 to the St. Agnes Breast Cancer Center.  As seen in the picture below, those students who contributed had the opportunity to be out of uniform, as long as they predominately wore pink, on the school’s annual “Pink” Tag Day, which this year was held Oct. 27.

 
St. Stephen School students to make sandwiches for homeless
As part of a yearlong service project, St. Stephen School in Kingsville will make 150 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each month to donate to Weinberg Housing and Resource Center (WHRC) in Baltimore, which provides the homeless with shelter, food, laundry, life skills and other services. Not only will the students assemble the sandwiches, but they will also bring in the materials necessary to build them, according to an email from Nicole Campbell, a fifth-grade teacher at the school. Once made, a parent will volunteer to drop them off. 
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