The 8th grade students from Our Lady of Guadalupe are happy having just finished masking the sign for the first
grout color. Sara Wilson (left to right) , Erika Guerette, Connor McKinney, Anthony McCluskey, Yanni Napat, Julien Doe, Brenna Kari, Reed Stannard, Amanda Waldron.
Absent at this work party: Kevin Dallman, Adam Dinehart, Colin Fann, Tyler
Kessler, Katrina Koruga, Lindsey Kramer, Brandon Lowry, Samantha Morrell,
Charlie Nickels, Joe Oishi, Olivia Robb-Linse, Angel Sarmiento, Alex
Stokesberry, Daniel Sullivan, Michael Sullivan, Bethel Zekariase
Each year the graduating eighth grade class of Our Lady of Guadalupe follows the tradition of prior graduating classes and presents a gift to the school as a thank you for the years of education they received. This year's class of 2009 wanted to do something that was a gift to the school, the parish, and the community.
They decided to create a beautiful and inviting entrance for their school and church.
Through bingo games and other fund raisers they saved up $1,571 for their project. There are two parts to their gift. One was replacing unattractive grass and a some scraggly trees with beautiful new landscaping.
The second part of the gift was to construct a 30 square foot handmade tile mosaic sign that proudly identifies their parish and school. In addition to stating the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and School, the sign also includes a mosaic image of Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe) and Juan Diego's tilma cloak with roses tumbling out of it.
The tilma with roses symbolizes the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the belief (as well as unwritten school goal) that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Through 17 work parties the students, along with some help from their parents, landscaped the entrance immediately south of the church on 35th Avenue Southwest (and Myrtle) as well as designed and constructed the sign from scratch as their final thank you to their school.
