These stories by our 8th grade students represent the spirit of Our Lady of Fatima - reflections the students have had during their time at Fatima.

Ben:
"Catholic schools bring out the best in kids."

Hi, my name is Ben. I would like to grab just a minute of your time to talk to you about my time in a Catholic school. I am going to tell you about my experiences as a student at Our Lady Of Fatima and hopefully I can convince you to think about sending your children to a Catholic school. I have been at Fatima for 11 years now and with the support of a caring staff, helpful teachers, and my friends, it has been a great time. There is a community within a Catholic school that you cannot find anywhere else. It is hard to describe but it fills you with a sense of security. You have the feeling that there will always be someone there for you if you need help with anything.

When I was little, I would mess up my r’s and w’s and I worked with a tutor to help me correct it. I know you can get the same sort of assistance at a public school, but this was different. The tutor really wanted to help me. She talked to me like a friend and picked me up when I did things wrong. She even gave me candy when I did exercises right, or if I asked kindly asked for some. But the point is that she really cared and wanted me to improve. That same help also comes from teachers. With smaller class sizes, students can have their needs addressed by teachers who will go out of their way to help as opposed to when there are larger groups of students where a teacher cannot focus on just one. Through experience, students grow a bond with their schools.

I have seen many students come back to Fatima after they graduate. They stop in for a visit and say hi to their old teachers who have become friends. They see their old school as home. I have talked about this with my friends that go to public school. They don’t understand how I have such a close connection to my school. To them it's just a building but I think that people need to look inside. They need to see the love, the care for religious importance, and the community that flows through the walls of the school. Catholic schools bring out the best in kids. Catholic school has given me the drive to work hard and taught me the power of a strong Catholic faith. The profound influence of religion mixed in with education makes a child's belief much stronger and more passionate. We learn about God and the Bible so much more in depth at a young age and bring that knowledge out into the world. School is a very, very large part of a person's life. The average human spends 41,760 hours in school. Why not incorporate religion, community, and love into that much time. Why not? Catholic schools aren't just facilities, buildings for just teaching kids the curriculum, they are a community. They are a home for children and their families. A Catholic school is not just an everyday place, it is a lovely, powerful, and incredible group of people.

Charli:
"[Catholic schools] teach us how to stay strong in our faith even when we are in times of doubt or when we are in pain."

Hi, my name is Charli. I am in 8th grade and I go to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School. This is the second year I have been at this school and it has changed my life in so many ways. It has taught me how to be a kind person, how to learn specific skills and has given me different opportunities.

Any school could teach you how to be a good and kind person, but Catholic schools teach us how to be a good person through a deeper meaning. It teaches us how to be a good person through the word of God. God shows us the way and leads us to be better people. In a Catholic school, this is the main goal, to teach us about how to be better people and how to be kind to everyone around. It also teaches us how to handle difficult situations. It is hard to stay positive in difficult situations but going to a Catholic school will help you make the right decision and stay positive. Being kind and happy is our main goal in life and going to a Catholic school can help us to meet this goal in life.

There will be many schools in the world that will teach you the skills you need in life, but Catholic schools go above and beyond teaching us the skills we need to get through life. They teach us how to be kind and gentle and to stay positive in any type of situation that comes our way. They teach us how to stay strong in our faith even when we are in times of doubt or when we are in pain. This makes the time in our life’s more valuable and positive and brings us closer to God and keeps us strong in our faith.

Even though I have only been at this for 2 years it has given me so many different opportunities. These opportunities have helped me to realize who I am as a person. I have been given the opportunities to play sports and be in musical theatre. These opportunities have given me the chance to learn more about myself. They have given me the chance to see what activities I like and don’t like. These opportunities give me the chance to engage with other people and be more interactive with them and make more friends. These opportunities have changed my life in so many ways and have made my life even better.

There are so many different reasons to go to a Catholic school. To become stronger in our faith and grow with God and learn how to make a difference in other people's lives and our lives as well, teach us certain skills that will help us grow stronger, and they give us different opportunities that some schools may not have. These will all bring us closer to God and to ourselves.

Dylan:
"Kids don’t have to hide their belief in God."

Hello, and good morning. My name is Dylan. I go to Our Lady of Fatima, and I am up here today to present you with reasons to consider sending your child, or children to a Catholic school. Catholic schools are not just schools with a little religion thrown in. They are so much more than that. They are places of learning, where the faith is thriving. Kids don’t have to hide their belief in God. They don’t have to be ashamed that they are Catholic.

The first reason I recommend Catholic school is that it helps kids grow in their faith. If you are a parent with a young child, you may know the struggle of keeping them attentive during Mass. They can be bored, noisy, or boisterous. Catholic school can help with that. With Mass on the last day of every week, they realize that it’s not just something that their parents like to go to. It’s important. Teachers and older buddies are all there to help them pay attention, behave, and be quiet. They also learn about WHY we go to Mass, and what it’s all about.

The second reason of recommendation is a bit more for the actual students who would be attending: the uniforms. They don't have to pick out what to wear every day. This might seem like a trivial problem, but sometimes kids take too long picking an outfit to wear and end up being late for school. This can be a recurring and frustrating problem. With uniforms, the hardest decision is whether to wear blue, red, or white. Some kids get bullied for the clothes they wear. At Catholic school, everyone wears the same thing.

Reason number three: small classes. At Catholic schools, the average student-teacher ratio is 1 teacher for every sixteen students. At public schools, the ratio is almost twice that, at 1-40. With a small class size, students all know each other. Teachers are more capable of giving students the help they need while still addressing other kid’s problems with the same level of urgency. Smaller class sizes also help with making friends. In big classes, kids don't get to know each other as well. In a small class, everyone knows everyone, so more people can become friends.

These are just some of the reasons to send your kids to Catholic school. There are many more. Religious curriculum, more challenging classes, and a broadened range of extracurriculars all are motivating factors. I hope that I have helped you see the beauty in Catholic education. I hope you consider my words. Thank you.

Matthew:
"The goal of Fatima and other Catholic schools is to make well rounded individuals."

Hello, my name is Matthew, and I am an 8th grader at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School. I have been at Fatima since I was in preschool. The last eleven years have been a great experience. Today, I would like to explain why you should consider sending your children to Catholic school.

The first reason is for the educational experience your children will receive. Throughout my time at Fatima, I have benefited from the smaller class sizes. Students experience one-on-one contact with their teachers. Teachers make sure that no student falls behind, and every student is academically challenged. Specifically, at Fatima, we are challenged in our math classes from the beginning of our education so that by 8th grade we are taking Algebra I which is normally taken in 9th grade.

The second reason is for the faith formation that will be developed each day at school. Every day we begin our day in prayer, and we end our day in prayer. Each month we recite the rosary as a school, and we attend Mass every week. As an 8th grader, we have had many opportunities to grow in our faith. This past fall we attended an all-day retreat at Mother Cabrini Shrine.

The third reason is for the in-school and outside of school activities. The teachers make learning fun through field trips, science fairs, and art projects just to name a few. Outside of school, there are numerous activities like speech contest, spelling bee, rosary club, and photography. There are also many sports that students can join and compete in games against other Catholic schools. I myself play basketball and run cross-country.

The goal of Fatima and other Catholic schools is to make well rounded individuals. Students gain strong critical thinking skills in their academic subjects. They grow in their Catholic faith, and they benefit from the many extra-curricular activities. In all, I hope you consider these reasons to enroll your child in Catholic school.

Tori:
"Fatima is home."

What is it that most people look for in a school? Academics? Faith? High School/College prep? What if I told you that there is a school that offers all 3 and then some? The school I attend brings something else to the table, something that cannot be found in a report card or transcript. What I’m talking about is the sense of family and community. My name is Victoria Vazquez. I am an 8th grader attending Our Lady of Fatima. I have been lucky to call this place home since I was 4 years old. I'd like to tell you about my experience at Fatima and how it helped me become the person I am today. To those on the outside Fatima looks like a normal school. You see a Principal, secretary, faculty and a building full of kids. What I see are my life coaches and cheerleaders that have nurtured and challenged me throughout the years. Since pre-school, I could tell how kind and amazing these people were, but it wasn't until 3rd grade, that I truly realized that I was not just a student here...I was family. It was January of 2016. I was in 3rd grade playing what was supposed to be my last basketball game with my OLF basketball team. We had discovered mid-season that I had to have open heart surgery. We knew that I would no longer be able to play contact sports, get overly excited, or even play at recess. It was a difficult time. The first time I realized there was hope was when my coach had every cheer said in my name. The girls had me sit with them on the bench. They knew how badly I wanted to jump in and play but they sat alongside me and always reassured me that I would be back in the game someday.

The sense of community kicked in even more when it came to surgery time in March. Parishioners and other parents always stopped by to tell me they were praying for me. The school allowed a fundraiser to help my mother pay for hospital expenses. One of the moms in my classroom setup a food chain so we had food when we got home. The day of surgery Ms. Taylor, the principal, had the entire school pray the rosary for me during my procedure. I never felt alone. The parents of my class all got together to purchase an IPAD so I could see and talk to my classmates whom had all made “get well soon” cards and sent gifts. I remember waking up from surgery, drowsy and confused. I was so surprised to see Ms. Taylor at the hospital waiting for me. It was then that I knew, I wasn't just another student, I was family.

Upon my return to school, I had kids and faculty making sure I was taken care of. The 3rd grade boys in my classroom would take turns carrying my bags. The girls would help me tie my hair back as my chest always hurt due to the surgery. When at recess I had what seemed like an army of girls shield me from all flying balls on the playground. We all loved each other. We all took care of each other.

While my experience may be unique it is but a small example of what a Catholic school offers. I have always felt safe and supported. I’ve always been challenged in academics and encouraged to never give up. I truly believe I am the person I am today because of the love I was shown here at Fatima. Fatima is home.

For any of you that are considering Fatima or a Catholic school, I will say this: If you are looking for a safe place to call home, send your child here. If you want to make sure your child is loved, send them to a catholic school. If you want to make sure that your child is part of a community that will stick together no matter what, send them here. It really does “take a village”. This is the best village out there.