At Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy in Queens, students are getting on the mic to share their school experiences with a new podcast.
President Trump spoke about faith at the National Prayer Breakfast, telling attendees that he wants to bring a focus on religion back to the United States.
Next month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will join the mayors of Chicago, Boston, and Denver in Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress and attend a hearing on sanctuary city policies.
By Katie Vasquez
Podcasts have boomed over the years, but the latest up-and-coming voices to step up to the mic come from a room turned podcast studio at Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy in Douglaston, Queens.
Students participating in the pod say the have much to look forward to. “Excited, I was going to be famous,” third grader Connor Arrington told Currents News.
“The experience was fun,” added classmate Franco Gentile.
The first episode of the show, called “Voices of Divine Wisdom,” dropped Jan. 29 during Catholic Schools Week.
The school’s principal Miriam Bonici came up with the idea as a way to inform parents at the school.
“Life has just gotten so busy for many of our families that even just tuning in on a Zoom, it might not necessarily fit in their schedule,” she explained. “So by recording these podcasts, it’s just offering them another opportunity to really hear about what’s going on in the building.”
During the podcast, students like eighth grader Gavin Barnett talk about their experience in the classroom.
“I talked about, ‘Well, you would change your foods or change the food menu,'” he said ”What did you learn from being in Divine Wisdom?'”
It’s a task that was easy for sixth grader Carolina Perez.
“I really always had this thing for acting and singing,” she explained. “I just like talking, because I never stop talking.”
Others found it harder than they anticipated.
“For someone like me to say that, it’s hard to talk a lot,” said Gentile.
Divine Wisdom hopes to create a podcast club and invite guest speakers like Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan.
“We would love to invite him to come and be part of our podcast,” said Bonici.
In the meantime, these students are happy they get a chance to talk about their stories.
“I think that they just really care about that,” said Arrington. “Children can make a big difference.”
“It’s a great opportunity to speak your mind,” added Barnett.
If you would like to tune in, you can look for “Voices of Divine Wisdom” on Spotify and Apple Music.
By Currents News
In addition to feeding the hungry, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens gives seniors a chance to get in touch with their artistic side.
The organization recently held an arts and crafts class at Narrows Older Adult Center in Brooklyn on Feb. 3.
The Picassos sat together to make oyster shell decoupages, a technique where you glue decorative paper onto the shell’s surface and cover them with varnish, giving them a painted look.
The Catholic Charities center offers an array of activities and services for the senior community, with their painting classes being every Thursday.
By Currents News
A Brooklyn high school is supporting their community with the help of America’s most loved food brands.
Goya Foods has collaborated with Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Red Hook, Brooklyn for a massive donation of over 300 cases of non-perishable food items to Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.
The goods included canned vegetables, juices, and rice. They will help feed the needy through the charity’s food pantry.
By Currents News
President Donald Trump and his administration recently have been releasing several immigration orders and directives. U.S. bishops are calling for immigration policy changes and Catholic agencies are working to address the needs of migrants. John Lavenburg, national correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, joins Currents News to discuss the U.S. church’s response to the Trump administration’s newest directives.
A St. Francis Prep senior is the only Catholic student in the city to compete in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search this year, solidifying the Diocese of Brooklyn’s reputation for academic excellence.
The International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. brought together global faith leaders and lawmakers, with Vice President JD Vance emphasizing the Trump administration’s dedication to religious freedom and recognizing those fighting for the right to practice their faith.
Dozens of Catholic school students took on the challenge of solving equations in under a minute at the annual Diocesan Math Bee. We reveal the secret behind the winners’ success.
Catholic Charities Kansas City-St. Joseph is offering a Super Bowl LIX raffle for $100, giving fans the chance to win two tickets to Super Bowl 59, roundtrip flights to New Orleans, and a luxury stay at the Mansion on Royal, with the contest closing Thursday at 9 pm EST.
by Katie Vasquez
These whiz kids walked into Our Lady of Grace Catholic academy gym to cheers.
They were ready to quickly crunch numbers and battle each other to be the math champion for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“I’m very excited for the competition. I wasn’t expecting to get past the school one,” said Eric Bindrum, a 4th grader at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Academy.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are the best from 28 different schools, and at the annual diocesan math bee they will be quizzed on everything from multiplication to division.
“In today’s world, with being so focused on finance and technology, math, I would argue is the most important subject in school, right up there with ELA,” said diocesan math bee moderator, Timothy Dillon.
After more than a dozen rounds, the first, second and third place spots were announced,
for some, the key to success was believing in themselves.
“I knew that confidence would get me further,” said Jordan Francois, a 4th grader at SS Joachim and Anne School, “I thought i would get first place, but I didn’t care, I just wanted a place at all.”
For others, hours of practice.
“I practiced all the rounds up to round 15,” said Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy 4th grader, Christian Cheng.
“My dad would ask me questions and I would try to answer them. He would keep asking me until I got it wrong,” said Giuseppe Creri, a 3rd grader at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy.
But the moderator says when you add it all up, these contestants are all winners, each getting their own trophy, certificate, and a sense of satisfaction that they are the best of the best.
“A lot of the adults here, myself included, say we wouldn’t be able to do the math up there as fast as these kids do. It’s so impressive to see what our students are capable of,” said Dillon.
A separate competition for the 6th, 7th and 8th graders of the diocese will be held in April.
by Katie Vasquez
Science has always been Juan Valeciana’s favorite subject.
“I enjoy doing this and just finding something new, something that’s never been done before,” said Valenciana, a senior at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens.
The senior transferred to St Francis Prep from a public school for a higher quality education.
“It lacked a lot of opportunities. and I came to St Francis Prep because of all the opportunities,” said Valenciana.
One of those opportunities included applying for the Regeneron Science Talent search, the country’s longest running and most distinguished STEM competition for high school seniors.
“It’s really known as the Junior Nobel prize,” said Fran Jimenez, the associate director of science research at St. Francis Prep.
The Queens student picked Alzheimer’s research for his project, spending more than a year studying data sets and submitting his findings.
“Amyloid beta is the hallmark for Alzheimer’s disease, and that’s one of the things that I look into,” said Valenciana.
For him this assignment wasn’t random, Juan’s paternal grandfather, Alberto, suffers from the disease.
“When I first started talking to him, it was like normal family topics,” said Valenciana, “and then the next day he’s talking about the exact same topics. It’s almost like he’s not forming any new memories.”
Now, he’s on a path to study Alzheimer’s.
“I wanted to develop some solutions, maybe help them eventually one day,” he told Currents News.
The St. Francis Prep senior didn’t make it to the final round but he still beat out 2,500 students from across the US.
“This year, we are the only Catholic school in all of New York City to have one. The only school in all of Queens, including public, to have one of these prestigious scholars,” said Jimenez.
Now Valenciana wants to continue his research, hoping one day there will eventually be a cure.
“It really decreases the quality of life for both people that have Alzheimer’s and people that have to take care of people that have Alzheimer’s,” he explained.
Valenciana will graduate this year, he hopes to study biomedical or mechanical engineering at his top choice college, Georgia Tech.
Businesses across the U.S. shuttered for a “Day Without Immigrants,” highlighting their impact as bishops urged President Trump to pursue just, bipartisan immigration reform.
The Vatican hosted its first-ever international summit on children’s rights. Pope Francis and global advocates addressed crises facing millions of children and signed a declaration outlining eight key principles for their protection and care.
Pope Francis announced plans to write an apostolic exhortation dedicated to children, aiming to reinforce his commitment to their rights and well-being.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the Chinese New Year with a diocesan Mass at St. Michael’s Parish, embracing cultural traditions like red envelopes, symbolic offerings, and a shared festive meal to celebrate reunion and prosperity.
On Feb. 2, Catholic and cultural traditions combined during a Lunar New Year celebration. Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan handed out those iconic red envelopes at a Mass at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing. The liturgy was steeped in Chinese tradition, including an “ancestors veneration ceremony,” where the parish gave thanks to God and their ancestors. After the Mass, Bishop Brennan joined the parish for a reception that included traditional food and some performances.