Celebrating Advent: Our Lady of Lourdes School students keep Jesus as the focus of the season

Friday, Dec. 25, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Every year, students at Our Lady of Lourdes School have the opportunity to celebrate and learn about Advent in a variety of ways to heighten their appreciation for the glory and majesty of Christmas.

One of the Advent traditions at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is celebrating St. Nicholas Day.  This year, student family groups made their own St. Nicholas paper doll and learned more about the saint’s extraordinary character and why he is beloved and revered as a protector and helper of those in need.

Following in St. Nicholas’ footsteps, students and their families gave an overwhelming amount of donations to the Gift of the Drummer program and to Catholic Community Services to help families in need.

On Dec. 8, Our Lady of Lourdes third-graders hosted the Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In his homily, Father J.J. Schwall spoke about the vast meaning of Mary’s “yes,” by which she accepted becoming the handmaid of the Lord and how she was free from original sin.

In the classrooms, each grade learned about Advent in their own unique way. Third-grade students learned how the wreath represents the eternity of God and focuses on the four virtues Jesus brings:  hope, love, joy and peace.  Then they created their own paper Advent wreaths – a keepsake to share with their family.  

“I loved putting the wreath together and learning about what each candle represents,” said third-grader Annie.

“I love teaching my students about the Advent wreath,” said third-grade teacher Mrs. Brown. “It’s important for them to understand that this is a preparatory period that anticipates the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but also celebrates Christ’s presence and importance in our lives now.”

After reading the biblical account of the Nativity, the fifth-grade students wrote haiku poems describing how it would have felt to be at the birth of Jesus. Then they brought “gifts” to Jesus as the wise men did.  These gifts encompassed ways that the students could serve people around them.  They wrote their “gifts” on a picture of a present, signed their names in Arabic, and placed them around their classes’ Nativity wall.

“It was a fun and different learning opportunity,” said fifth-grader Alek.

The sixth-grade class learned about and created Jesse Trees.  This Christmas tradition, which began in medieval times, is used to help tell the story of the Bible from creation to the Nativity. In groups, students read the Scripture for the day, identified a few verses that highlighted the main idea, and then made an ornament for their tree – one for each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas.

Fourth-graders made a class Advent calendar.  As a way to prepare themselves for Jesus, they selected random acts of Christmas kindness they could do for others and wrote a reflection for each day.

Kindergarten students created a 24-page booklet that included quotes from Luke and Matthew to reinforce the story of the Nativity. The students read and colored one page per day and then put them together to take home and read as a family on Christmas Day.

On the last day before Christmas break was the annual Breakfast with St. Nicholas/Birth of Jesus celebration.  Students came to school in their pajamas, ate a healthy breakfast and visited with Santa, then celebrated the birth of Jesus with a special prayer. 

“Advent is a time of blessed waiting,” said Tina Bergquist, principal.  “I love the creativity that our teachers bring into the classroom to help our students deepen their understanding of the gift that is Jesus and remember all the ways we encounter Him every day.”