Next to our Parish Hall sits a charming little house that is anxiously awaiting for its renaissance to begin as Our Lady of Lourdes Rose Cottage Preschool. With the generous support of
Fr. Freddie and our Nights of Columbus, the preschool is slated to become a reality in the fall of 2008.
Its rooms will become the centers where the youngest members of our parish/school community will learn to explore the world around them, share new friendships and understand just how much God loves them. The preschool's curriculum will be designed as a developmentally readiness program. In a program geared for three, fours and early five year old children, the idea of readiness is broad by definition.
Children learn about their environment through play. In actuality, a child's work is play! Our preschool will be rich in tactile experiences, and filled with opportunities for children to actively explore number concepts, science concepts and the power of language in a print rich environment.
Our outdoor area will be a place of imaginative exploration filled with opportunities for small and gross motor development. Children will discover the wonders of nature and the joy of cooperative endeavors. Andrew Noyes, an alum of OLL, is designing and constructing a playhouse as his Eagle Scout project. We are honored to have this creative young man willing to share his gifts and talents.
Our community is helping to make this preschool dream a reality, a host of families have made the commitment to donate their time, talent and treasure to the endeavor including: the Finney family, John Dattore, the Jenrich family, the Mayes family, the Holland family, the Kyle family, the Parillo family and the Smith family just to name a few. When complete, the courtyard will be a welcoming haven filled with love as seen in a memorial garden dedicated to the memory of Michael Vacca who spent his life dedicated to the ministry of service and the education of our parish youth. The Vacca family has donated a statue of our Blessed Mother as a reminder that we are always in her heavenly embrace.
This project needs the support of our entire parish community. Educational materials need to be purchased including toys, games, building blocks and children's literature that will help to lay the foundation for a lifetime love of learning and exploration. We also need child size furniture and napping cots as well as outdoor equipment such as bikes, trucks, sand toys as well as sand and water tables. A climbing structure is also needed that meets the needs of gross motor development. A plan is in place to create a garden environment that celebrates our native plants, but that will also support an ecological system as a welcoming haven to butterflies and birds.
We have a waiting list already in place for this year and parents are signing their children up for next year. The Rose Cottage Preschool is meeting a need for our community's youngest members; all we need is the commitment from everyone in our community to answer the call of service. What are your talents and what are you ready to help create for future generations of Lourdes' Lions? Please make sure to contact the school or parish office to sign up to be part of the next chapter of our Parish's history. With open hands and hearts, I am confident that miracles will take place.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
If Walls Could Talk!
The halls are empty and the echo of silence is almost deafening. Each year, Summer Vacation is the cause of this phenomenon for our school. As I walk from room to room, a faint echo of a student's laugh can be heard; around every corner, there is a glimmer of a child's smile. Schools are storehouses of memories. Each memory has been carefully crafted through the love and dedication of a school community and OLL is no exception.
OLL opened its doors in 1949 by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our now Junior High campus was the site of the original school. As the story goes, each time a new building was slated to be constructed, students participated in the then acceptable form of Physical Education called Rock Removal! The Sisters had a vision and a few rocks were not going to slow them down. Classrooms needed to be constructed that would hold the then average class of 50 or more students. I wonder if the Sisters could have ever imagined the changes that OLL has seen through the years.
Imagine the change of installing not only heating units, but air conditioning as well. All of us who were in school in the 60's and 70's remember those magical first days of school in sweltering rooms when the thermometer outside showed triple digits and let's not forget that those jumpers were usually made of a wool blend. Yes, school was for the strong few who persevered with the encouragement of our loving Sisters who always reminded us not to complain about the heat because Christ died for our sins. I still feel the guilt whenever I find myself about to complain about the heat.
I would imagine that those early pioneers in education at OLL could never have imagined a thing called a computer as evidenced by our former electrical wiring system. Think of their facial expressions if they could see not one lab, but three computer labs as well as computers in all classrooms and two SmartBoards designed to meet the ever changing educational needs of its students. In the last six years, technology at OLL has been identified as the single most important tool in our quest to enhance the learning experience for our students.
For the 2008-2009 school year, members of our school community will find changes that would once again have been a jaw dropping experience for the teaching community of 1949. Mrs. Eustaquio with the help of
Mrs. Marquez have been hard at work moving our school's library into the 21st century. Students will now find that our books have been inputed to allow for a scanning process of checkout. This technology will also allow teachers and student to be able to conduct a detailed search for a particular novel. The library will allow host a brand new look with a contemporary feel and accessibility to one of our SmartBoards.
Technology will also take center stage in our Junior High Language Arts program. Where once the Brownie camera was used to capture school moments, students will experience the world around them through a detailed, overview of Media Literacy and Media Ethics. Students will create ad campaigns, learn how to tell a story through the digital lens, and explore journalism through the experience of electronic journalism complete with in- camera editing, lessons of camera placement, lighting and sound.
Yes, I do believe that if walls could talk, we would find that the past would be overwhelmed by the changes of the present and yet there would still be a common ground that will never be changed or compromised. OLL has a commitment to its students, its parents and the community at large. Its mission as it reads today, to learn, to live and to love with Jesus will always remain the same under the watchful eye of a dedicated professional community of teachers and staff. We are blessed and together, we look forward to the opportunity to create the next chapter in OLL's long history of excellence and commitment to giving life to the Gospel messages. We look forward to the start of the new school year and the chance to welcome new families to our community. Please share our school's history and its direction for the future with everyone you know. As Jesus said, let the little children come to me, we are ready to embrace this Gospel message with every child that will grace our doors, all we need is your help in our school's family ability to grow in love, grace and wisdom.
OLL opened its doors in 1949 by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our now Junior High campus was the site of the original school. As the story goes, each time a new building was slated to be constructed, students participated in the then acceptable form of Physical Education called Rock Removal! The Sisters had a vision and a few rocks were not going to slow them down. Classrooms needed to be constructed that would hold the then average class of 50 or more students. I wonder if the Sisters could have ever imagined the changes that OLL has seen through the years.
Imagine the change of installing not only heating units, but air conditioning as well. All of us who were in school in the 60's and 70's remember those magical first days of school in sweltering rooms when the thermometer outside showed triple digits and let's not forget that those jumpers were usually made of a wool blend. Yes, school was for the strong few who persevered with the encouragement of our loving Sisters who always reminded us not to complain about the heat because Christ died for our sins. I still feel the guilt whenever I find myself about to complain about the heat.
I would imagine that those early pioneers in education at OLL could never have imagined a thing called a computer as evidenced by our former electrical wiring system. Think of their facial expressions if they could see not one lab, but three computer labs as well as computers in all classrooms and two SmartBoards designed to meet the ever changing educational needs of its students. In the last six years, technology at OLL has been identified as the single most important tool in our quest to enhance the learning experience for our students.
For the 2008-2009 school year, members of our school community will find changes that would once again have been a jaw dropping experience for the teaching community of 1949. Mrs. Eustaquio with the help of
Mrs. Marquez have been hard at work moving our school's library into the 21st century. Students will now find that our books have been inputed to allow for a scanning process of checkout. This technology will also allow teachers and student to be able to conduct a detailed search for a particular novel. The library will allow host a brand new look with a contemporary feel and accessibility to one of our SmartBoards.
Technology will also take center stage in our Junior High Language Arts program. Where once the Brownie camera was used to capture school moments, students will experience the world around them through a detailed, overview of Media Literacy and Media Ethics. Students will create ad campaigns, learn how to tell a story through the digital lens, and explore journalism through the experience of electronic journalism complete with in- camera editing, lessons of camera placement, lighting and sound.
Yes, I do believe that if walls could talk, we would find that the past would be overwhelmed by the changes of the present and yet there would still be a common ground that will never be changed or compromised. OLL has a commitment to its students, its parents and the community at large. Its mission as it reads today, to learn, to live and to love with Jesus will always remain the same under the watchful eye of a dedicated professional community of teachers and staff. We are blessed and together, we look forward to the opportunity to create the next chapter in OLL's long history of excellence and commitment to giving life to the Gospel messages. We look forward to the start of the new school year and the chance to welcome new families to our community. Please share our school's history and its direction for the future with everyone you know. As Jesus said, let the little children come to me, we are ready to embrace this Gospel message with every child that will grace our doors, all we need is your help in our school's family ability to grow in love, grace and wisdom.
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