My coworkers are already missing the adorable anecdotes that have been littering the copy and fax machine for the past few weeks.
“Jordyn gave up eating cookies and fighting with her brother. When asked about it she stated, ‘I really love chocolate chip cookies and I wanted to do something nice for Jesus. I wanted to show my brother Jesus’ love.’”
“I want to come closer to Jesus. I am trying not to fight with my brother because my mom gets stressed about it. I’m going to give her a break and also do the dishes every night during Lent. I really wanted to try and get along better with my brother; I thought it would be a great time to rebuild our relationship.”
“I gave up pretzels because they are my favorite thing to eat and because I love Jesus so much. He gave up his life, so it is easy for me to give up something I love.”
These are just some of the stories of the 13 remarkable students who have been recognized as 2010 Lenten All-Stars by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The Office of Catholic Education account team at Vault is always brainstorming ways to promote the value of Catholic education in the Philadelphia market. One day at the beginning of Lent, we began discussing possible story ideas for the coming weeks -- out of that brainstorm emerged the Lenten All-Stars program.
This Monday, the Lenten All-Star program came to fruition when Mary Rochford, the Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, presented 13 Archdiocesan students with certificates signifying their Lenten All-Star status. Parents, grandparents, pastors and teachers were all on hand to congratulate the All-Stars and celebrate their commitment to their faith.
In addition to the beaming students and proud adults, the program also drew the media’s attention. Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV, along with the Catholic Standard & Times and Bucks County Courier Times ran stories about these inspirational students.
You can see a full list of the 2010 Lenten All-Stars here.