By Katie Vasquez
Kids in Catholic schools do more than reading, writing and arithmetic.
They are also growing in faith and at Incarnation Catholic Academy in Queens Village, students now have a space dedicated just for that.
“This room was used as just a storage room. and I said, look, we’re going to have a new saint. we have to have models. we have to have better witness,” said Father Josephjude Gannon, Incarnation Catholic Academy Board Chair.
That model is what will soon be the church’s first millennial saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis.
The Italian teen brought people around the world closer to Christ by creating a website of all the Eucharistic miracles, and through this classroom dedicated to him at Incarnation, kids can learn and relate to his life.
“He was around our age so we can look up to him and try to do things that he did and make it more known,” said Kayla Russ, an 8th grade student at Incarnation Catholic Academy.
And his strong faith.
“He’s not that older than us, and he had to receive confirmation once, too,” said Nathan Lachhman, a 7th grader at the school.
The parish of Incarnation-St Gerard Majella hopes this space will inspire the youth to get closer to Christ and be a catechist like Carlo.
“I think it will benefit the school because if someone’s, like, down or upset about something and they feel like they want to pray, they could come here,” Evens Moise, a 7th grader student said.
There are still some updates to come to Carlo’s classroom, like a smart board and 3d printer-
But Father Gannon said the spiritual and technical elements are all things the tech wiz turned soon-to-be saint would appreciate.
“Blessed Carlo was somebody who loved technology, and so that’s one of the reasons why we want to use all of that in this room as we continue to grow. Because he used technology for evangelization,” Father Gannon said. “He used technology to outreach to the world and that’s really what we’re all called to do especially in Catholic schools.”