By Dana Klosner-Wehner
As part of Catholic Schools Week, the children “Dressed to Express,” said Principal Cecelia Rando.
“The idea was they would dress as the vocation they want to be,” Rando said. “They could be a saint, a historic figure, a current leader or a vocation or career of their choice.” Each classroom in the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school had an age-appropriate lesson about careers.
The theme for the week was service, so the kids were told to choose a career in which they would serve people, said Cathy Breen, who teaches fourth, fifth and sixth grade. “We had basketball and baseball players who said they would use the money they made to make camps for children who are less fortunate,” Breen said. “We had CEOs who would hopefully be able to make companies grow so that people would have jobs. We even had missionaries who would go spread the word of Jesus to other countries.”
The children said they enjoyed dressing up and learned a lot from the experience. “I dressed as a teacher,” said fifth-grader Kenny Conrade. “I wore a pair of dress pants, a button-down shirt and a tie. I want to be a teacher because it helps children learn different things and become successful when they get older. I want to teach math and social studies in high school. I like those two subjects and I’m good at them. I got the feeling of what it would be like to be a teacher by dressing up as one.”
Mary Zwilling, a fifth-grader, dressed as a karate-school owner. “I’ve been taking karate my whole life,” she said. “I enjoy teaching. My dad is a spokesperson for Cardinal [Edward] Egan ... and my mother is a bookkeeper. I’ve met people who own their own business and they’ve told me what it’s like. I’ve also watched my karate teacher do his work, and it seemed interesting.”
Mary said that dressing up really helped her narrow down what she wants to be when she grows up. “There’s a lot of possibilities,” she said. “This showed me what it’s like to be one.”
Sixth-grader Marcela Luna said she wants to be a pediatrician. She wore a white coat, a stethoscope and gloves. “I watch the doctor every time I go for a checkup and I enjoy it,” she said. “I want to take care of very sick children and make them feel better.”
Marcela said that dressing up made her think about what she wants to be. “There are a lot of different things you can be,” she said. “The opportunity to be what you want to be was really cool.”
Jessica Mongiardo, a sixth-grader, wants to be a special education teacher, she said. “My brother’s girlfriend is one, and she really likes helping the kids,” Jessica said. “I thought I would help kids with special needs, too. I see the teachers here and they enjoy what they’re doing. I think I would enjoy it too.”
Fourth-grader Kyle Chin said he wants to be a civil-rights lawyer. “Some people in this world are treated unfairly because of their race,” he said.
Krista King, a seventh-grader, wants to be a lawyer as well. “Last year we did a pretend case and I was the lawyer,” she said. “I like having to gather all the evidence to solve the case.”
Dress to Express was just one of the activities the students were involved in during Catholic Schools Week. They also had an open house, a sports day and a mass at which they celebrated service workers such as firefighters, police officers and Postal Service letter carriers.
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