By Katie Vasquez
Jacob Perlman spent time during class and even weekends trying to get a perfect image of Saint Faustina Kowalska.
“I would draw most of her body. Like I drew most of her face in art one time, and the rest of the body was in class,” said Perlman, a 6th grader at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy.
His fellow 6th graders also did research on the 20th century Polish nun who established the devotion of the divine mercy image, filling the door of the classroom with letters from her diary.
“What really surprised me was that she came from a poor family and that when she grew up, she became a famous saint,” said Matthew Hu, a 6th grader at St Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy.
On the first floor, a third grade class studied Our Lady of Fatima, the Marian apparition from Portugal becoming their classroom’s patron saint.
“I really like about the Lady of Fatima, the colors is beautiful,” said 3rd grader, Audrey Li.
It was part of a friendly competition at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy.
All students were vying for the title of best decorated door, for the second year in a row.
“The kids actually take a walk around the school looking at everybody’s doors. So, it’s just not their door that they learn about,” said Deborah Hanna, the principal.
Grades 6-2 and 3-2 share top honors.
“I was proud because, yeah, because my teacher was working really hard to win,” said 3rd grader, Carlos Meireles.
Their reward is a celebratory lunch with their pastor.
But Father Gregory McIlhenney says the real prize is the bond formed between the students and saints.
“I want them to have the foundation to have that relationship with god and to be able to walk that spiritual journey for the rest of their lives with these company, with these friends that they’ve made along the way,” said pastor, Father Gregory McIlhenney.
And these students learned that they have more in common with these holy men and women than anticipated.
“We could relate to each other because like when I was small, we didn’t have like, a lot of money,” said 6th grader, Alina Zhang.
“She has a lot of faith in God and I also have a lot of faith in god so that’s how I relate to her,” said 6th grader, Micaella Guzman.
The teachers will keep their decorated doors up for most of the year.