GREENSBORO — Students at Our Lady of Grace School had some special visitors during National Vocations Awareness Week Nov. 3-9.
During that week the school had five speakers address the students: a priest, a deacon, a religious sister and a married couple who all spoke about their vocations and how they live them out.
Father Michael Carlson, parochial vicar of Our Lady of Grace Church, spent time at the school speaking to students from grades K-8 about his vocation and what it means for him to serve God as a priest.
Students also heard from Deacon Mark Mejias, one of the permanent deacons at the parish. He shared about the sacramental process of becoming a deacon.
Sister Mary Raphael, of the Daughters of the Virgin Mother religious community in Gastonia, spoke to the students about vocations to the consecrated life and shared with them the importance of prayer. Katie and Shaun Kilgariff, parents of three OLG School students, spoke about the sacrament of marriage.
During National Vocations Awareness Week, the school also began each day praying for vocations and each class wrote to the diocesan seminarians they have adopted in prayer.
— Photos provided by Paola Scilinguo
SALISBURY — Sacred Heart School and teacher Erin Brinkley were recently awarded a $1,200 Bright Eyes Education Grant to develop an aeroponics program at the school.
Aeroponics is cutting-edge technology in which plants are grown and nourished as their root structures are suspended in air.
Through this grant, students will be able to study the environmental benefits, engineering logistics and the complexity of feeding communities where rich soil and water are limited resources.
The school hopes to develop a sustaining program that will provide fresh produce in its food pantry every week, helping to supplement the canned goods that are already available.
Sacred Heart School leaders hope this grant will help students better understand the complexity of feeding the world, especially in countries where optimal soil and water are not available.
— Robin Fisher