Technology deepens the Christian identity of Our Lady of Lourdes middle school students

Friday, Feb. 19, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — A year ago, teachers at Our Lady of Lourdes School were tasked to tangibly demonstrate how they integrate Catholic identity in their lessons and general instruction for the school’s accreditation in 2016. 

“When I first was asked to demonstrate Catholic identity within technology instruction, I was frankly stumped,” said JC De Astis, who teaches information technology at the school. “My faith then gave me the inspiration needed to meet the challenge, make the connection and formulate the projects.”

The projects were all different, yet similar; “ripe with opportunity to demonstrate Catholic identity,” said Tina Bergquist, school principal, who credits the projects as being very personal and rewarding to the students.

In 8th grade, the students were asked to respond to Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” 

The students were assigned to read a summary of the encyclical, do online research, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation on how to respond to the Pope’s call to action. They came up with an initiative called “OLOLCS Must Go Green,” in which they identified the need to improve the school’s energy conservation and recycling efforts.  

“Pope Francis’ message really spoke to me because I worry about our environment, especially the bad air quality in Salt Lake,” said 8th-grader Italia Perez. “It was fun to be able to create the logo for our project using technology.”

The students have implemented the purchase of recycling bins for all classrooms. Other objectives include educating the OLOL community on better energy conservation and increased recycling, seeking financial sponsorship from local companies to help update aspects of the facility aimed at lowering energy consumption and reducing its carbon footprint, and organizing and implementing composting of leftover lunch food.  

Students in 7th grade met after school to assemble a representation of Jesus on the cross from decommissioned computer components. The one-of-a-kind crucifix, known as “Christ the Tech,” measures 28”x19” and is displayed in the STEM room.   

“It was really cool using our imagination to create the crucifix,” said 7th-grader Mia Schmidt. “It was interesting to see how we connected computers to Christ.”

Last year, small groups of 6th-grade students researched the lives of certain saints, then wrote profiles and designed Web pages for them. Throughout the school’s computer network, each of the seven profiles was published this year for a week to correspond with the saint’s day of celebration.

“It was really hard to do the programming and get it just right,” said 7th-grader Luke Borgmeier, who is new to the school this year but had fun joining the groups from last year.  

“It was fun to learn about the saints and learn how to create a Web page combing religion and technology,” said Olivia Hoffman, who is in 7th grade. “It took a long time to finish.”

True to the rich heritage of the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Lourdes School maintains a focus on academic excellence taught by committed faculty in a faith-based and nurturing environment. 

“Academics are important, but we teach children, not just subjects, so it is the whole child that our teachers spend their days with in the classroom,” said Principal Bergquist. “It is the whole child that grows up to be the faith-filled Catholic that we need in our world.”

Courtesy of Our Lady of Lourdes School