As Catholic Schools Week draws to a close, I was delighted to find this piece in the Catholic Standard about my alma mater, St. Vincent Pallotti High School, in bucolic Laurel, Maryland. The school has changed a lot in the 32 years (!!) since I graduated, but I was pleased to see a few familiar names in the story. (Among others, the principal, Steve Edmonds, was a teacher and guidance counselor when I was there.) This piece also offers a great glimpse at what appears to be a thriving youth ministry.

Take a look:

Celebrating St. Vincent Pallotti Week is an annual tradition at the Prince George’s County high school bearing the saint’s name. The Laurel school comes together to promote vocations through many programs scheduled in the days around St. Vincent’s feast day — Jan. 22 — which also coincides with the National March for Life.

This year’s highlights included a jubilee celebration for the Pallotine Missionary Sisters who have run the school for 75 years.

Pallotine Sister Karen, a teacher and tutor at the school since 1960, said Pallotti Week is very helpful in explaining St. Vincent’s charisma to the students. “It has expanded,” Sister Karen said, “it is much better, much more vibrant now.”

She said teaching the students about their patron saint and his compassion is part of the school’s mission. “The students are a caring people,” she added.

Sister Lena May, vocations director for the order traveled from the order’s American headquarters in West Virginia to the high school to celebrate Pallotti Week with the students. “I explained to the freshmen the broader mission (of the order) – to spread the Gospel message by any and all means and to empower the laity to look at their gifts and talents so they can carry out their vocation.” The week provides students “a greater awareness of what’s going on in their world,” Sister Lena added. It helps them in “thinking ahead to the person they want to be.”

Nancy Vawter, the school’s campus minister, has helped organize St. Vincent Pallotti Week for nine years. “The week promotes our young people and reinforces how they lead their lives for the glory of God,” Vawter said.

Last May, the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Youth Ministry/ Catholic Youth Organization named Vawter the 2008 Outstanding Adult Leader. In addition to her work at Pallotti, Vawter also serves as part-time director of youth ministry at neighboring St. Mary of the Mills Parish.

Over the past couple of years the award-winning youth minister has added more interactive programs to the Pallotti Week celebration. The focus for each year may change, Vawter said, but – quoting the saint himself – it is always about how to “live out your faith in the political, social and cultural realities of today.”

This year, the students at Pallotti lived out the mantra of “going green” with classroom presentations about the stewardship of the earth and caring for all life. Morning prayer focused on God’s call to respect all creation. In addition there was a poster display using recycled materials and a mural created in the lunchroom made exclusively from discarded trash. A fashion show featuring clothing and accessories from area thrift shops was also scheduled.

Other events for the students included a student essay contest and a debate featuring a student playing the role of St. Vincent Pallotti. Born in Rome in the late 1790’s St. Vincent MaryPallotti was ordained to the priesthood in 1820. He excelled in theological studies but preferred pastoral work dedicating his entire life to the poor. The future saint often returned home without a coat and shoes, having given them to the less fortunate.

Sister Karen said that St. Vincent Pallotti also struggled in school and was in danger of failing until he made a special novena to God. She said students can relate to St. Vincent Pallotti and take away an important message: “to anyone who struggles – don’t give up, there’s always an end.”

Visit the Standard link for more.

Meantime, go Panthers!