The St. David Catholic Elementary School Christmas choir, led by community volunteer, Melody Henry recently visited Red Oak Villa, a seniors residence in the heart of Sudbury. The student choir sang Christmas carols and spread Christmas cheer throughout the complex. While sharing hot chocolate and Christmas cookies the students and seniors visited, told stories and enjoyed each others company. Natasha Folino, St. David School teacher said, ” it warms your heart to see the youth of our community be so gentle and caring with the residents at Red Oak Villa. This is what the season of Christmas is all about – giving of yourself and enjoying those people in your lives. This was the perfect pairing of the generations and a wonderful way to celebrate the season”.

Every year at St. David Catholic Elementary School, the staff and volunteers get together to plan an old fashion, traditional Christmas feast for the students. A Christmas meal including turkey with all the trimmings was served to all students at the school. Each classroom assumed a responsibility for the feast. The kindergarten students created the placemats, grade one students baked cupcakes for dessert, and the grade 4/5 class was responsible for serving the meal.
Special guests attended the event and actively participated in the seasonal celebration. Donations from community organizations made this special meal possible. Christmas carols were sung, gifts were received and the spirit of the season was evident everywhere in the school. According to the grade 1 student, Deacon Lucas, “our Christmas lunch was healthy food that tasted great. I liked all the Christmas music and really liked eating with my friends. Christmas is a fun and special time of year and I’m really happy we do special things to celebrate it”.

St. David Catholic Elementary School celebrated the season of advent with a school wide teaching assembly that focused on hope, love, joy and peace. The grade 2/3 and 3 classes hosted the celebration and taught the school population about the importance of advent and the virtue of patience, especially during this busy time of year. The children and their teachers related “being patient for Jesus’ birth” to waiting for an important phone call, waiting for spring to come or waiting for babies to be born.
The assembly was focused on love and how we show love to one another in our everyday lives. The advent wreath was also explained by the students. It is a tradition that began hundreds of years ago in Germany. The wreath is in the shape of a circle covered in evergreen bows, representing eternal life with 4 candles representing hope, love, joy and peace and the four weeks of advent.