Creating a Home for All Students: An LEI Photo Essay

"At Holy Cross School, we held a beautiful Mass to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our pastor retold the story of Our Lady's apparation to Juan Diego as our students reenacted it, which really helped illustrate this miraculous event. There was a procession of roses to the altar, followed by a fiesta in the gym, and our Pre-K and Kindergarten students all sang in front of the altar after the meal. The beautiful statue of Our Lady, as seen in the photo above, was a gift from last year's 8th grade class to the school and was brought here from Mexico by one of our families. It was such a beautiful event without all of our wonderfully devoted school parents who helped decorate and prepare the meal, as well as all of our teachers who taught our children about Our Lady of Guadalupe and prepared them to celebrate in such a beautiful way."

"Every faculty member now has copies of four different cultural images of the Holy Family or Mary. These are on display in our hallways and in offices so that we can celebrate the four major cultures that are in our school."

"This past year the students of St. John Bosco Catholic School came together to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Under the direction of Spanish teacher Johana Bautista, kindergartners through 8th-graders created colorful sugar skulls from scratch and papel picado banners. These beautifully-decorated creations adorned the campus chapel altar for visitors to enjoy for two full weeks.The students also performed various songs in Spanish, danced to traditional rhythms, and even staged a fashion show! Coming together as a community to create such an event helps students and families better understand and appreciate this Mexican tradition and surrounds them with a taste of authentic culture."

"At Queen of All Saints, our entire community participated in a procession after a family donated a new statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the school."

"At St. Andrew School, we constructed an altar for Día de los Muertos and displayed it prominently in our hallway."

"Viviana Pacheco is our new bilingual school administrative assistant. She joined our school family last August."

"Our students were so excited to learn about and celebrate El Día de los Muertos this year. Here, they're showing off los esqueletos that they made."

"Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe has become a beautiful tradition at our school. Here, our students are placing roses on the altar we put together for la virgencita.

"On Wednesday, December 12, our fourth grade students led the school in the Feast Day for our Lady of Guadalupe. In preparation for this Mass, they spent time learning about the cultural significance, as well as collaborated with a mom of one of our fourth grade students on a painting of the Blessed Mother. This was the first time in recent years that we celebrated this feast day as a school community. The painting that the fourth graders made was blessed by Father Brian and is hanging proudly in our school."

"This year we created a portable promotional sign, which we took to all of our meetings. We used it recently when connecting with Hispanic families at Esperanza, a local organization that helps families navigate educational and community options and resources."

This year, our 5th and 6th graders who honored/celebrated both Día de Los Muertos and All Saints Day. Our students researched the history, meaning, and traditions of both days and how they are relevant to our Catholic Church and identity."

"We have taught our students the sign of the cross in four different languages—one language each quarter—and use it over announcements every day during prayer. "

"For the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we built a beautiful shrine to la virgencita in our school hallway."