Big Brother has returned to school nearly every day since graduation. He was asked by the staff to help the teachers box up, clean out, take down and throw out the contents of the classrooms, along with a few other graduates.
So there's a big dumpster right outside the front door, next to the flagpole. Apparently the boys have been (with adult permission) tossing stuff out second-floor windows into the dumpster. The teachers on the third floor refused to let them throw things from that height, however. Definitely a wise move on their part.
Basically it's been a kind of macabre garage sale. The kids helping out the teachers have found all sorts of interesting things in the storage areas, and they're told that they can keep some of it, or throw it out. He's gotten a radio, a small disco ball, a fox puppet, a set of Bible videos, some sport bottles, an old but functioning labelmaker, a volleyball and a package of math manipulatives.
It occurred to me this morning another way in which the loss of the school will be a loss to the parish. The school has provided a steady supply of Altar Servers to the church. The children served at daily Mass during summer vacation as well as during the school year. They were well-trained and reverent. The adults who attended daily Mass appreciated the presence of the young servers, and I believe that the servers benefited not only from attending daily Mass--even if it was only for a week at a time, here and there--but from the example and dedication of the adults who attended. The blessing of that contact between young and older Catholics will, I think, be missed by all of them.
And the sight of the dumpster in front of the school, next to the flagpole where the children used to line up each morning...that is something I hoped I would never see. I hate to drive up to the school and be confronted by it. All that tradition, all that dedication, all that hard work--into the dumpster.
So there's a big dumpster right outside the front door, next to the flagpole. Apparently the boys have been (with adult permission) tossing stuff out second-floor windows into the dumpster. The teachers on the third floor refused to let them throw things from that height, however. Definitely a wise move on their part.
Basically it's been a kind of macabre garage sale. The kids helping out the teachers have found all sorts of interesting things in the storage areas, and they're told that they can keep some of it, or throw it out. He's gotten a radio, a small disco ball, a fox puppet, a set of Bible videos, some sport bottles, an old but functioning labelmaker, a volleyball and a package of math manipulatives.
It occurred to me this morning another way in which the loss of the school will be a loss to the parish. The school has provided a steady supply of Altar Servers to the church. The children served at daily Mass during summer vacation as well as during the school year. They were well-trained and reverent. The adults who attended daily Mass appreciated the presence of the young servers, and I believe that the servers benefited not only from attending daily Mass--even if it was only for a week at a time, here and there--but from the example and dedication of the adults who attended. The blessing of that contact between young and older Catholics will, I think, be missed by all of them.
And the sight of the dumpster in front of the school, next to the flagpole where the children used to line up each morning...that is something I hoped I would never see. I hate to drive up to the school and be confronted by it. All that tradition, all that dedication, all that hard work--into the dumpster.
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