We’re bringing you stories from across the Diocese of Brooklyn, showing how they not only excel in helping students academically, but in growing their faith.
Bishop Robert Brennan as he took part in a science experiment at Our Lady of Trust.
The robotics team at Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Louisiana is helping a puppy get around.
There’s a new survey out that says about 70 % of American adults who describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, or NONES, still believe in God.
From a lesson in history to an experiment in the science lab.
Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan took part in a STEM lesson at Our Lady of Trust in Canarsie, making rock candy from scratch.
The younger students showed the bishop their artistic side, performing faith-based songs for him.
The school ended the day with sports and games in the gym.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic Schools Week.
If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
This week some Catholic schools aren’t just looking to the future; they’re honoring their past.
Auxiliary Bishop James Massa traveled back in time Wednesday with help from students from Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Bayside.
It was all part of their 100th anniversary celebration.
Each grade dressed up as a different decade, learning about the important events happening at that time.
Bishop Massa says those lessons are helping the kids get some perspective.
Alumni also recently visited to talk to students about the school’s history.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic Schools Week.
If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
It’s a church in Brooklyn that attracts attention because of its size and beauty.
But if you walk through the doors at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, you’ll notice the outside doesn’t even compare to what’s inside.
“Wow. I can’t believe this beautiful gem exists here. I feel like I’m in Rome,” said Father Christopher Heanue, rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. “I feel like I’m in Europe and that’s the feeling that I love to see when people walk into this church for the first time, this awe.”
The Prospect Heights parish was founded in 1851. The original church, which ministered to an Irish congregation, is a far cry from the grand building that replaced it in 1912.
But over the years, the church fell into disrepair. One of the bell towers even collapsed.
So about a hundred years after it was dedicated, the rapidly deteriorating church was restored and named a co-cathedral.
“Recognizing the needs of the diocese, the needs of a location where we can gather large audiences, large congregations. So for this church, which was on the verge of absolute ruin and destruction, the option was clear, we either tear down the church or we restore it to its beauty,” Father Heanue said.
And that beauty shines through the stained glass windows that depict the life of Joseph, and the images above of our Blessed Mother.
The sacred artwork shows the various cultures in the diocese, so every parishioner whether they speak English, Spanish, or even Creole, can see their own mother in Mary.
And those parishioners travel from all over just to attend Mass here.
“They keep coming back because they love this parish, they love assisting here, they love praying here,” Father Heanue said.
Take Nancy Cardinale, for example.
“Nancy is a parishioner that attends every daily Mass — like the USPS, come rain or shine, sleet or snow or hail,” Father Heanue said. “She is here and she really, for me, is inspiring in that regard in her faith.”
But Cardinale doesn’t just attend Mass, she sets up for it, every morning.
“I gotta do my things here,” Cardinale said. “I gotta clean up over there. I gotta fix the flowers over here, these flowers don’t look right I have to make them straight and I started to do that and nobody said anything to me. I said: ‘You know they need a woman’s touch in here, you know, to do all those things.’”
Cardinale even chimes in during Mass to ring the bells. It’s a job she doesn’t take lightly and one she always shows up for.
The significance of the bells during Mass, Father Heanue said, is they’re an important aspect of the consecration, in that they elevate us and help to center us, to recognize this core tenet of our faith, that the bread and wine are becoming the body and blood of Christ.
“I have to come to church every day because I had so many things in my life that Jesus was always there for me when I prayed,” Cardinale said. “He always gives me an answer.”
Her faith is something she never questions and that rings true every morning when she sits in this pew.
“I just feel it’s a blessing because I want to,” Cardinale said. “I just want to give so much thanks and praise to God that I just, every morning in my prayers, I say get me to the house of St. Joe’s where I can ring the bells to heaven.”
And now you know Nancy Cardinale from the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, and how she makes up the Pulse of the Parish.
By Jessica Easthope
Think of all of the insignificant sounds of an elementary school classroom. Normally they fade into the background, but for Jaxon and Jace Hili, they’re amplified.
In September Jaxon started 4th grade and Jace 2nd grade with their new hearing aids. at first it was impossible to drone out the noise –
“The first day I got them it was hard,” Jaxon said. “I wasn’t used to them, and when you’re not used to them you can feel a little nauseous. Jace didn’t feel nauseous but I felt nauseous when I was wearing them.”
“Sometimes it’s really loud but then I go like this [adjusts earpiece] and that makes the hearing aids normal,” Jace said.
“If the person behind you might be whispering or if someone’s clicking a pen, all of those sounds are magnified and that can be very distracting especially for a child who has always heard a lot of things,” said Maura Hili, Jaxon and Jace’s mother.
Maura, is the Home Academy Association President and a lunch mom at St. Francis of Assisi.
The year that it took from the time they were diagnosed with progressive hearing loss to when the aids finally touched their ears was a battle.
“Catching it later on sometimes I think to myself like that mom guilt what was I thinking,” Muara said. “How did I not know to pursue this further?”
But this year Jaxon, Jace, and Maura have a lot less to worry about because their teachers wear a microphone bluetooth connected to their hearing aids.
Melissa D’angelo, Jace’s teacher says at first he was resistant to the device and it took them both a little while to learn, but that’s when she put her teaching aside and relied on her faith.
“I would try and do things that would make him feel special and be fun,” D’angelo said. “I would whisper something to make sure he had it on, I know that he wants to learn he has that in him,” D’angelo said. However, I can help to do that. Sure I could have had an easier time not using it but it’s made me become a better teacher and a better person.”
Maura says all of their teachers go above and beyond for her boys.
Principal Elizabeth Reilly is new to her role, but came in making sure the Hilis would be supported in and out of the classroom, no student was getting left behind on her watch.
“Every teacher is on board, even last year when they didn’t have the diagnosis knowing the teachers, I know, they did what they needed even if it wasn’t formally on paper because that’s just the kind of faculty that we have,” Reilly said.
“I’ve changed formats of classrooms and I’ve changed personnel in classrooms to accommodate the needs. We fought for more services for her children. You know it’s very rewarding but to know the Healy family is to love them, and it would be impossible not to fight for them.”
Since getting used to their hearing aids and the microphones, Jaxon and Jace’s performance and participation have improved dramatically.
Maura can’t believe at one point she thought she might have to pull the boys out of Catholic school.
“I could take my children elsewhere where they might get an extra service,” Maura said. “Everyone’s going to learn how to read and write, add and subtract, but what else are we gonna learn? Are we gonna learn how to be kind? Are we gonna learn how to love others in ourselves and that’s hard stuff to teach? I think we get that here.”
But she knows now this is where they’re meant to be. Maura said not only do the teachers at St. Francis of Assisi use the devices happily to help her boys. They charge and maintain them and pass them back and forth seamlessly every single day.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic Schools Week.
If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
We’ll show you how one school in Queens goes above and beyond to help students with hearing loss thrive.
They’re traveling through time at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Bayside to celebrate the school’s 100 years.
While we’re shining a light on Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
In tonight’s Pulse of the Parish, we’ll meet the woman who rings, what she calls, the bells to heaven, every morning during Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
The students at St. Kevin’s Catholic Academy celebrated diversity this Catholic Schools Week.
The students from the Flushing school speak and learn 10 different languages, including Hungarian, Spanish, and American Sign Language.
Parish officials say the different dialects represent the different cultures within the church community.
The kids also celebrated recent renovations raised through a campaign by their former pastor, retired Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto.
The millions of dollars went to improving the building safety of the school.
The kids ended the celebration by singing songs to those gathered.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic Schools Week.If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
Multiple schools across the Diocese of Immigrants are marking Catholic Schools Week by highlighting diversity.
At Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ozone Park, Tuesday, Jan. 30, was International Day.
Every class in the Queens school studied a country of their choice, learning and displaying every aspect of that culture through art, dancing, food, and more.
Students grabbed their passports and took a journey around the world, on Tuesday, starting with pre-K, where one classroom turned into Italy, and going all the way to eighth grade, where one class celebrated India.
Students told Currents News they were happy to learn about the different cultures.
Parents were also invited to the school to see the students’ projects.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic schools week.
If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
Kim Farula considers the students in her 2nd grade class at Midwood Catholic Academy her own children. She wants each of them to succeed.
Success is unique for 6-year-old Janessa Gittens. She’s always been aware that she learns differently than her classmates, but she’s reading near grade level for the first time.
“When we do math, I can’t read some things, I can’t read some words,” Gittens said. “But I can read some of the word, but not all of it.”
When Gittens gets overwhelmed with her classwork she cries, just talking about it can be emotional.
“I feel sad and sometimes I feel mad and I’m trying to stop, the tears just come out of nowhere and I can’t hold my tears in,” Gittens said. “I take tissues and I try to wipe my face and then it just comes back.”
“It’s really heartbreaking to see a child become so emotional and break down,” Farula said.
Farula has been practicing with Gittens how to manage her emotions in class.
But it took Farula practice too. The deep breathing exercises and affirmations she uses are just some of the strategies she learned from a special education coach.
“The coaches will actually observe her or if I want them to look at a specific student they will observe them and they will let me know as well what they need and that’s the most important thing is what a child needs in their education,” Farula said. “Every child has specific needs.”
“My job is to make them feel more comfortable in supporting the special education population in the class,” said Amy Marelli, a Special Education Coach. “Because a lot of what we’re trying to move away from is that direct, teacher-led instruction, one size fits all lesson planning.”
Marelli teaches inclusive strategies that entire classrooms can benefit from. Right now teachers in 40 Diocese of Brooklyn schools are receiving coaching services.
“They’re seeing a lot more support for a student that may not have been able to participate as actively in a lesson before,” Marelli said. “And now they have the tools and the teacher has the understanding of how to support them in their daily classroom activities.”
The look of Special Education in the Diocese of Brooklyn has undergone a dramatic change.
This school year, Luisa Manzo was brought on as the first ever special education field representative. She’s an advocate for students with academic challenges.
“Basically, I’m just a help. I’m a contact. I’m a partner with all of the schools just basically going in and helping them in any way I can with special education, with those needs,” Manzo said.
Individualized Education Service Plans or IESPS, occupational therapy, speech therapy and special education teachers are offered today at every Catholic academy in the diocese.
Manzo said 10 years ago they didn’t exist.
“We want the student to feel confident, we want the student to be successful, we want them to thrive,” she said. “We look at those IESP’s and we make sure yes this is the right setting. This is the right fit. This is the right school.”
Without those services Gitten’s mom, Kristen, would have had to send her daughter elsewhere.
“When they told me that she could get evaluated while still going to Catholic school while still practicing her faith, getting the same as public school if not better, I was ecstatic,” Kristen said.
She never imagined Gittens would enjoy school the way she does today.
“We’re doing coloring worksheets and there’s a math equation that we have to solve and I have a favorite book and it’s called the Bad Seed,” Gittens said.
“She’s become more confident,” Kristen said. “She said ‘OK, mommy. I’ll do it. I’ll try.’”
Even if she doesn’t get every problem right or pronounce every word correctly, Kristen said Gittens is succeeding, because she’s trying.
Be sure to stay with Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of Catholic schools week.If you’re interested in sending your children to catholic school, just visit catholicschoolsbq.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.
We’re taking an in-depth look at how schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn help students with academic challenges.
Students at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in South Ozone Park are celebrating Catholic schools week with an international day.
The kids at St Kevin’s Catholic Academy in Flushing greeted a beloved visitor in multiple different languages.
Over at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy students are showing off their artistic skills at the 27th Annual Art Exhibition.