By Kathy-Ann Gobin
DANBURY – Artwork from a dozen students from Catholic elementary schools throughout the Diocese of Bridgeport are featured in a calendar following a contest sponsored by Veritas Catholic Network.
“It’s a fun unifying event for the schools in the diocese,” said Steven Lee, President and CEO of the network which broadcasts Catholic programming 24 hours a day throughout Fairfield County, as well as parts of Long Island and New York.
Catholic elementary schools in the diocese were invited to participate and create artwork for each calendar month that would reflect their faith and depict something special for each month such as a saint’s feast day or a month-long dedication, such as the Blessed Mother for Mary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for June..
St. Peter School in Danbury was one of three schools that had multiple winning entries featured in the calendar. The artwork of sixth-grader Lucas Da Silva won for the month of June. Da Silva drew the Sacred Heart of Jesus on a backdrop of his handwriting of the words the Lord spoke to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
St. Peter School principal Mary Lou Torre said she is very proud of her students for expressing their faith in such a creative way.
“The students took it quite seriously,” Torre said. “It shows that the students are paying attention during Mass. We have a wonderful art teacher who I believe really inspires our students to want to do art.”
The contest was an extra-curricular activity for the students and they had the opportunity to choose the month they wanted to illustrate.
“I ended up using the contest to demonstrate lessons and techniques,” said Amy Preveza, who is a professional illustrator and an art teacher at St. Peter School.
Preveza said she helped the students with techniques such as the use of shadows that can be seen in the January artwork by fifth-grader Jason Mocha. The artwork depicts the Epiphany and showcases the influence of Van Gogh with the use of swirls for the sky. Mocha’s artwork is also featured on the cover of the calendar.
It was very exciting for the students to develop their ideas and see their artwork published, Preveza said.
“They loved the idea. It is nice when there is a contest element and then they see it published,” said Preveza, who also used the calendar as a teaching tool and celebrated the artwork of students from other Catholic elementary schools in the diocese that participated in the contest.
Assumption Catholic School in Fairfield had student artwork featured in February for St. Josephine Bakhita by eighth-grader Davida Latibeaudiere, in July for Going to Church and Independence Day by first-grader Brendan Fugiel and in September for Padre Pio by sixth grader Josnyel Rivera.
Catholic Academy of Stamford had two winning entries including May for Pentecost by fifth-grader Elise Fernandez and August for the Immaculate Heart of Mary by eighth-grader Adriana Moyano.
Torre said she hopes the publication of the calendar will inspire more students to express their thoughts and ideas through art and welcomes the calendar contest as one way to engage students in their faith and artistic abilities.
Lee agreed and said participating schools really embraced the project.
“We had some really fantastic pieces of artwork,” Lee said. “The creativity and talent of the kids is really amazing.”
The calendars were distributed to participating schools during Catholic Schools Week earlier this year.
“We want to be an instrument of unifying the parish and the community through different activities to bring people together,” Lee said, adding that he hopes to host the calendar contest again this year with entries submitted in the fall for the 2024 calendar year.
More than a handful of schools chose to be sponsors for the calendar this year and Lee hopes participation will increase next year, including sponsorship from local businesses.
“We are hoping to do more with the schools during Catholic Schools Week in the future,” Lee said. “We exist to help the community and Catholic schools are especially important because of the outstanding education they provide.”
Calendars are still available through Veritas while supplies last. The Veritas Catholic Network, is an affiliate of EWTN and broadcasts at 1350 AM and 103.9 FM.
