Recently, the children in Montessori Pre-K at Our Lady of Lourdes School used their Friday Show–n-Tell to donate food and toys to the Stevens Swan Humane Society. Mrs. Cathy Contino-Turner made a special visit to pickup the wonderful donations. She brought Emma, a black lab up for adoption to teach the children about what a great place Steven Swans Humane Society is for animals who need homes.

RJ Dilberto and Emma Welch helped Mrs. Contino-Turner load up her car with the generous donations.

The SMART Program was presented to the students at Our Lady of Lourdes School. Correction Officers, Reyne Mattie, Don Smith and Raymond Rivera, spoke of abduction awareness and resistance tactics. Identification data was provided for families to use in case of any emergency. Shown above is “Rudy the Fox” with Universal Pre-K students, left to right, Christian Marrero, Madison Bean, Matthew Racino and Brianna Blum.

AfterCare is lots of fun at OLOL! Front row, from left: Maliah Fraser, Olivia Golden, Alyssa Kloster, Anastacia Wells, Samuel Fatata, Joshua Komecek, and Abigail Fletcher. Back, From left: Arrica Arcuri and Patricia McGlynn.

D’Marco Smith, a 5th grader here at Our Lady of Lourdes School , was selected as one of the finalists  in our area to participate  in “The Toyota 5th Grader Challenge”, held at Clinton High School last December 8th, 2007.  It was broadcasted live on television on Fox Channel 33.  D’Marco is pictured above with his mother.

Instruction at Our Lady of Lourdes School, this year, was “kicked up a notch” when two exciting programs were added! From Pre-Kindergarten through grade 6, students are enjoying new “hands on” learning experiences. That is, hands on, as in using their hands to create beautiful pottery pieces and using their hands to communicate through sign language.
            Ms. Patricia McGlynn, who holds a graduate degree in sign language from The College of St. Rose, says, “Teaching sign language to elementary-age students is both a challenge and a love.” This new language has been presented in the hope of broadening the students’ understanding and acceptance of those who communicate differently from themselves.
Classes began with the introduction of vocabulary for the different holidays, and quickly expanded to include prayers and songs. The second graders recited and signed a poem during the school liturgy for All Saints’ Day, and the fifth graders impressed the congregation with signing the song Happy Birthday Jesus during the wonderful annual Christmas Prayer Service. During the upcoming months, the intermediate students will continue to use their new vocabulary to learn the Pledge of Allegiance, and begin conversations with one another. The primary students will learn the signs for family members, animals, colors and other every day vocabulary.

Mrs. Monica Scibior’s patience and talents have made her a favorite among the students. She has complimented her BS degree from Siena by studying art instruction throughout college and various independent adult classes. Initially, she began teaching a pottery class during our school’s After-Care Program and this still continues. The success of that class was the precursor to adding pottery classes to our Art curriculum.
Mrs. Scibior collaborates with the teachers to develop artistic pottery projects that relate to specific subject materials for each class. The children have learned the origins of pottery making, and the basic vocabulary of potters. Clay projects are done with instruction and demonstration in hand-building techniques. Technique instruction includes ragging, sponging, washes, and stamping. They choose a color scheme, add personalized details, and paint the ceramic bisque-fired piece.
OLOL Pre-K students were delighted with their sponge-glazed oak leaf magnets. First graders hand-built clay owls for their nocturnal animal science study. Second graders made clay leaf fossil plates, and fifth graders tackled the difficult technique of clay coil-pot building and glazed them in their own version of pueblo-style pottery designs. Third graders are currently working on an assortment of clay hand-build dishes and foods of China and Mexico for use in the school’s Annual Learning Fair during Catholic Schools Week.
            Learning at Our Lady of Lourdes in Utica takes place many ways … not just through books and blackboards, white boards and laptops. Indeed, learning is also spiritual, visual, tactical, and artistic. The success of these programs is evident, every day, through the eyes  -- and the hands -- of our students!