Catholic Schools Week, a national celebration that started February 1st and ended on February 5th, was a big deal at Padua Academy. Many spirit week events were planned by the Student Council.

Instead of having flex on Monday, February 1st, a liturgy celebration took place. However, this Mass was different, as Bishop Malooly was the celebrant.

On Tuesday, 40 students, 10 from each grade level, participated in the American Math Exam. Students who have outstanding academic scores in math and were recommended by teachers were selected to take the exam during flex. The American Math Exam helps students recognize their talent and shows them how they stand against other students in the country. Freshman Abby Frank, who is currently in Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry, says, “I thought it was extremely hard and required a lot of critical and logical thinking, but allows you to see where your trouble spots are and ranks you among other students who have the same interest in math as you do.” She also hopes that she’ll be able to take the exam again next year to see how her math skills have progressed over the course of a year.

While the freshmen were busy bonding with each other over in Westminster Presbyterian Church for the freshmen retreat, the rest of Padua was seeing a sea of blue on February 3rd, Sophomore Spirit Day. Grace Stadter, a sophomore, says, “I like the spirit day because it was a nice break from the normal school day and we got to bond and spend quality time with our Padua sisters.” For the freshman who don’t know what Sophomore Spirit day is, it’s a day when the sophomores have their first two periods of class, then they all head down for lunch 1 and watch a movie in Roberto Hall. And of course, they all dressed up in blue, their class color.

Padua Academy would be nothing without its teachers, so Thursday morning was used to give all the faculty a breakfast. There were bagels, donuts, coffee, and fruit provided by the Student Council girls. Throughout the day, students gave out plenty of “thank-you’s” and “We appreciate everything you do!’s” to the teachers they saw in classes and in the hallways. 

But Friday, February 5 was the day most girls were waiting for. The “Color Wars” was a highly anticipated event in which each grade level dressed up in their class color. Green for freshmen, blue for sophomores, red for juniors, and yellow for seniors.  “My first spirit assembly was a lot of fun!” Freshman, Jackie Camponelli says. “I liked hanging out with my friends, cheering for my classmates, and dressing up in our class color!” Plenty of games were played and winners were awarded ‘house points’ based on how the grades finished in each game, and Jackie loves the way it stuck with the “Harry Potter” theme for the school year. The Catholic Schools week of 2016 closed out with lots of cheers from the “hardcore sophomores” after they won the Spirit assembly.