Kindness is in season at Holy Family Catholic Academy

This holiday season looks quite different from those of past years - most gifts are bought online, Advent candles are lit virtually and annual Christmas programs and visits to Santa are canceled. Everyone is faced with decisions on how to celebrate safely and mark the end of this very challenging year.

Christmas has always been a celebration of faith and community at Holy Family Catholic Academy in Inverness, and faith and community are needed now more than ever. The question is how does a school re-imagine a time of coming together when the success of its in-person instruction has been to keep physical distance?

HFCA Principal Kate O'Brien asked students that very question. The academy's motto is to develop thinkers, leaders grounded in faith, and fully including students in schoolwide initiatives is one way Holy Family Catholic Academy lives its mission.

Challenged by O'Brien, the academy's student council considered how to celebrate Christmas while maintaining health and safety standards.

Fifth-grade representative Addy Besenhofer suggested a riff on the traditional 12 Days of Christmas by including the 12 Days of Kindness. In addition to Holy Family Catholic Academy's traditional countdown to Christmas, where students swap their uniforms for assorted Santa hats, Christmas socks, and a variety of red and green apparel, this year's countdown added an important new element.

"I was really disappointed that we weren't going to have our Christmas program. The COVID rules have limited our ability to meet with other classes, but we still wanted to connect with others and do something positive for each student," Addy said. "That's what led me to the idea of adding small acts of kindness to our countdown."

Each day brought a new opportunity to show kindness to one another and included making cards for grandparents, holding a door for someone, complimenting a classmate and writing something you liked about your class on a Post-it note.

Addy's teacher, Mrs. Anne Pacion, said, "It is remarkable that our Holy Family Catholic Academy students can look beyond themselves and care about the greater good. My students make sure that kindness is a part of our everyday experience. Our school's focus on kindness is not going to end with Christmas break. It is part of who we are as a community."

Addy adds, "I am really happy that my idea is something that the whole school enjoyed. We all know that Christmas is a time of giving and now, more than ever, little things go a long way. Even with masks on, we can still make each other smile."

"Holy Family Catholic Academy's 12 Days of Kindness is a wonderful example of how critical thinking and leadership skills can help solve academic problems in the classroom and in all aspects of our lives. We are all so proud to witness Holy Family Catholic Academy students being thinkers, leaders grounded in faith," O'Brien said.

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