Fifth-graders from St. John Vianney Parish in Bettendorf recently wrote letters to The Catholic Messenger.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
BETTENDORF — When fifth-grade religious education teacher Tony Vermeer introduced his students at St. John Vianney Parish to The Catholic Messenger this academic year, he discovered that about half of his 10 students were already familiar with our weekly diocesan newspaper. All of his students “discovered something interesting inside the pages,” he said.
His students, who participate in one of three sections of the parish’s fifth-grade religious education class, “paired up, skimmed over the paper, and then picked an article to read completely. Afterwards, I asked them to write a letter to the Messenger and comment with a compliment and a suggestion. Enjoy their feedback!”
The Messenger appreciates the students’ feedback and shares it here with our readers:
“In your Catholic Messenger I like your announcement of our new Bishop. What you wrote in that article was great news for people to hear. One suggestion that we have is to maybe not talk about hostages and politics in your article(s), but we have to say they were great stories.” Sincerely, Lydia, Logan and Zach
“We read your newspaper from Oct. 17, 2024 and we have a few suggestions for you. To start, we really liked your Bishop’s letter on World Mission Sunday. We have a suggestion for your edition. We think you should capitalize your headlines. The words you should not capitalize are for, and, etc. One more suggestion is that you should use more color in your newspapers and you should have bigger print for younger/older people. Thank you for reading our letter. God bless you and your team. Sincerely, Lily and Clare
“Compliment: We read your newspaper. It told us very important information. We wrote (about) it on our white board with compliments and suggestions. Compliments: announcement of our new bishop. Article about the pope. Good use of photos, especially color. Suggestions: BIG PRINT PLEASE. Less words. Don’t talk about hostages and politics.” Sincerely, Gabriel and Sheera
“Compliments: We liked the article about the pope. Good use of color. Suggestions: Use a lot less words. Make the print BIGGER.” Sincerely, Dylan and Ben
Vermeer introduced the Messenger to a previous class of fifth-grade students, in 2023. He said he remembered seeing the Messenger at home when he was growing up and thought that sharing it with his students might make them a little more comfortable and curious to “open up the pages and take a look.”
“Tony’s lesson is outstanding!” said Jeannie Moran, director of religious education for St. John Vianney. “He’s always so creative and engaging with his students. He has the unique ability to make everything relate to the real world.”
Our Messenger staff invites all religious education and Catholic schools’ classes to explore the diocesan newspaper, to enrich their faith and to share their thoughts with us about what matters to our Church!
