Bishop McCort marks Catholic Schools Week with Mass with bishop

Feb. 2—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Catholic schools throughout the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese are marking Catholic Schools Week by recognizing "Faith. Excellence. Service."

Schools have been been observing the celebration through a variety of activities, emphasizing the importance of Catholic education.

On Wednesday, the Most Rev. Mark L. Bartchak, bishop of the Altoona- Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, visited Bishop McCort Catholic High School to celebrate Mass with students.

"Once in a while it's worth bragging about a really good thing, and the really good thing about our Catholic schools is our students and how they flourish in so many ways — academically, personally and physically," he said. "Catholic Schools Week refocuses students' attention to the purposefulness of a Catholic education in which we can unabashedly live, celebrate and speak about our Catholic faith and not have to worry about anybody else interfering with that."

Jeanne Feathers, director of development and marketing at Bishop McCort, said Catholic Schools Week is a time to bring awareness to what a private Catholic education has to offer.

"Catholic School Week is as important as a Catholic education," she said. "I believe that we offer an option to students who may not be happy in their present school district. I also think a private eduction is integral as far as attracting industry into the area because if you have executives, a lot of times they want that private education, and if a community does not have it, it could be a dealbreaker."

Along with the Mass, the school held an open house Wednesday evening for prospective students and their families.

On Friday, Bishop McCort will have Student Appreciation Day, where there will be an array of activities.

Senior Lauren Mucciola said it's great to have a week to celebrate what they do as a school.

"We get to recognize all the great things that we do here and incorporating faith into school and how important that can be," she said. "It's nice to give our teachers some appreciation this week for choosing to teach at a Catholic school and give students some appreciation for choosing to go here and actively put faith in their lives."

Mucciola said the week shines a light on the importance of faith and education.

"There's so many opportunities here and we want to bring awareness to that," she said.

"We get to recognize our faith and celebrate that."

Senior Nick Yost said Catholic Schools Week has been a big part of his life.

"It's extremely important. It's not just your faith. It's something that you carry with you all your life and something you believe in and something you have a hold of," he said. "It's something I hope I have a hold of for a very long time."

Yost said students look forward to it each year.

"When I was in grade school, you were able to bring your families in and have lunch in the cafeteria, and that was a really nice thing to be a part of," he said. "I think that's what Catholic Schools Week is. It's being part of a huge family."

Also in attendance was state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Richland Township, who toured the school and presented citations to two student wrestlers.

"I'm here to show my support within the community for education and for the good work that's being done at Bishop McCort," he said.

Feathers added that for students, the hope is they'll walk away from the week feeling proud to be a part of Bishop McCort.

"We want them to be proud to be a part of the Catholic education," she said.