Assumption High School students Elana Canacho and Mckayla Froehlich assist third-graders Eddy Hernandez, left, and Zoe Costello, right, with a Lenten project at All Saints Catholic School in Davenport last month.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Instead of doing the same thing every day for Lent, such as giving up candy, students will choose one of 40 things to give or take up each day.
Student ambassadors from Assumption High School visited third-graders at All Saints Catholic School Feb. 17 to assist with the Lenten project. Ambassadors also visited John F. Kennedy and St. Paul the Apostle Catholic schools in Davenport and Lourdes Catholic School in Bettendorf.
Stephanie Schroeder, Assumption’s director of admissions and student ambassador advisor, worked with the students and instructed them on how to make a “pocket” for the project. The pocket is similar to a handmade envelope, using origami techniques.
Schroeder distributed 40 Popsicle sticks and a sheet of paper with 40 items that students might consider giving up and 40 items they might consider taking up. “Look over the list and pick 40 items,” Schroeder told the third-graders. “Write down one item on each Popsicle stick with a marker.” At school or at home, depending on time, the students were to decorate the Popsicle sticks and place them in the pocket. Each day during Lent, students pull out a stick and perform the marked task.
Assumption junior Elena Canacho had fun helping the students. “It is nice to have a project that isn’t just coloring. It’s something the students have to execute each day. There is a new challenge each day.”
Junior Mckayla Froehlich thought the variety of things to do during Lent was more exciting than doing the same thing daily.
Third-grader Eddy Hernandez liked making the pocket because it reminded him of Japanese origami. “It was pretty easy to do.” Classmate Talia Khairallah said it was a fun project. Zoe Costello liked that the students had to do something for God and Hugo Lopez appreciated the option of doing something different each day.
