Peace and blessings to all during this holy season of Lent!
Lent is a very important time of year for The De La Salle School. We transitioned to this season by gathering our community together for prayer and the distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday. The student body and the staff of The De La Salle School joined the parishioners of Our Holy Redeemer parish at the 12:10 PM Mass during which they received blessed ashes on their foreheads. During this season we will continue our usual practice of attending the 12:10 PM parish Mass every Friday that school is in session. Our Lasallian twin school in Nakuru, Kenya - Mwangaza College - will, once again be the beneficiary of our bottle recycling and almsgiving this year as The De La Salle School family contribute to "Louie".
World War II Veteran Mr. Bernie Rader and his wife June captivated the eighth grade students with his stories of strength and perseverance as a POW of the German army when he was captured after a fierce battle in France. Mr. Rader shared how fearing persecution from the Germans he asked his fellow soldiers to bury his dogtags so he could not be identified as a person of Jewish faith. Along with the several medals he received from the American military, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 presented him with French Legion of Honor medal. It is the highest award a civilian can receive from France, given to veterans of the two world wars to pay tribute to them and express France's gratitude to those who risked their lives defending liberty.
Mr. Shaun Barry of SAS spent an afternoon with our student body as part of our Career Day series, sharing the wonder of numbers in his presentation "How Numbers Help Fight the Bad Guys." Mr. Barry spoke about how numbers help investigators find fraud as well as expose schemes and people who target innocent people into giving up their money. It was an opportunity to see Math in a totally different perspective.
Students competed fiercely in two great activities over the past month. During the month of February each grade brought in their box tops competing against each other and faculty for the prize of a pizza lunch. Gentlemen in the 5th & 6th grades tied for first place with a total of 131 box tops collected by each class. The De La Salle School participates in the Box Tops for Education program. Please help us by sending your box tops to The De La Salle School.
On Friday, 8 March, students participated in their Rewards Club activity. Following "Referee" Mr. Donodeo's directions, Gentlemen competed in a few rounds of "Gaga Ball." The game is played with a soft foam ball, and combines the skills of dodging, striking, running, and jumping, while trying to tag opponents with a ball below the knees. Players need to keep moving to avoid getting tagged by the ball. The timing could not have been better as South Nassau Community Hospital, as part of their "Wellness Works" program, spoke to our 5th Grade Gentlemen earlier in the day about the importance of physical activity. Eighth grade students gained the victory in this tournament.
