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REGINA HIGH SCHOOL FEATURED IN PIME MAGAZINE

Keeping the Faith:

Even in a New Location, Regina High School Maintains Mission Spirit

By Hank Forys

This article was printed in the PIME World magazine for April 2008.

Regina High School , an all-girls Catholic high school in Warren , Mich. , is continuing its long tradition of supporting the missionary apostolate of the Church by having regular collections for the Catholic missions, especially PIME.

For 50 years, Regina was located in nearby Harper Woods , and for many of those years, the missions program was moderated by the late Sr. Mary Beata, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis, the sponsoring order of the school. Sr. Beata, who taught history and other subjects at Regina , conducted weekly collections and special contests like “Miss Valentine” and “Miss Shamrock” to make the collections more fun and increase contributions.

As a result, Regina usually ranked near the top of schools within the Archdiocese of Detroit in contributions to the missions.

Last fall, Regina moved to a new location in Macomb County , where most of its current students reside. Inspired by the example set by Sr. Beata and under the patronage of St. Therese of Lisieux, the generosity of Regina ’s students continues to grow in its new building. To coincide with World Mission Sunday last October, students participated in the “Miss Mission” contest. Each third period class selected a candidate to take up the collection each day for a week. The contestant who collected the highest average per student was “crowned” Miss Mission and won a pizza party for her class. This year’s winner was Abby Markielewicz in Miss Barbara Gerard’s Spanish class. The class even decided it would donate the cost of the pizza party!

The school collected more than $1,000, most of which went to support four PIME Foster Parent Mission Club children from Bangladesh , Myanmar , India and Thailand , who were adopted by the Regina family last year. During the second semester, students contribute to the missions every Tuesday during religious studies class or at lunch. Various Catholic missionary groups receive a donation from the proceeds of these collections.

Another good opportunity for the students to support the missions will take place May 1, when Regina participates in the annual PIME Day at Shield’s Pizza. The Shield’s Pizza restaurant in Warren will supply pizza to be sold in the Regina cafeteria and will donate part of the proceeds to PIME. The restaurant will also donate a portion of their sales that day to PIME. Ann Hite, a Regina parent, is coordinating this fundraiser in memory of her late sister, Bernice Sensini-Ambrose, a PIME supporter and Shield’s employee.

Regina ’s support of PIME has led to a strong relationship between the school and Fr. Guy Snyder, PIME, who has become a sort of unofficial “chaplain” of the school. Fr. Guy has graciously made himself available to preside at Regina school and individual class liturgies. He recently concelebrated the Catholic Schools Week liturgy with Bishop Daniel E. Flores, the new regional bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

As Regina continues to pray for and help support the Catholic missions, we are very grateful for Fr. Guy and all the good work being accomplished by PIME.

 

REGINA HIGH SCHOOL’S STUDENT COUNCIL’S TEDDY BEAR COLLECTION

Warren, Mich., (December 6, 2007)—The Regina High School Student Council members have partnered with Ashley Johnson, a 17 year old cancer patient, to ease the fears and bring joy to other children in the community with cancer. Bianca Bartolomei, a sophomore at Regina High School, is the committee head in charge of this project. “After hearing Ashley’s story and reading the flyer that was sent to us, the agreement at Council was overwhelming,” said Bartolomei. Student Council members have started a competition between lunch periods to collect teddy bears. “The lunch period that brings in the most teddy bears will win: 1) bragging rights, 2) that good feeling you get when you give to someone in need, and 3) a luncheon treat provided by Student Council.” “A former alumna of Regina High School made us aware of Ashley’s wish to provide teddy bears to children with cancer,” said Mrs. Cathy Zuccaro, Regina’s Student Council Moderator. The flyer quoted Ashley as saying, “I know that kids with cancer have a lot of sadness. I want them to have something special to hug and to hug them back. I know how scary hospitals are without familiar faces and friends.” Ashley and her mother will personally deliver the teddy bears to the Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

 

REGINA HIGH SCHOOL’S NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY SENDS PACKAGES TO TROOPS IN IRAQ

The Regina High School National Honor Society members decided to make Christmas a little brighter for those men and women serving our country in Iraq. Ms. Carolyn White, NHS moderator, suggested the project after a friend forwarded an email to her from a soldier. The students were very receptive to the idea. Many of the girls have family or know of people that have family serving in Iraq. As suggested by the soldiers, the Regina NHS will send toiletries, such as deodorant, lip balm, shampoo, body wash, and laundry detergent. Also being sent are Christmas cards to send to their loved ones, Christmas decorations to boost morale, and movie DVD’s or Christmas music CD’s. In addition, the soldiers requested warm, wool hunting socks and facemasks. Each soldier also received a Christmas stocking filled with holiday candies as well as homemade Christmas cards with words of appreciation and best wishes from the NHS members. Although the soldiers are benefitting from the packages, the Regina students are as well. “The girls are excited to see pictures of the soldiers opening their packages,” said Mrs. Carolyn White, Regina’s NHS Moderator. An Army field artillery unit will be the recipients of the packages. “My friend corresponds by email with this unit and they send pictures every once and awhile. They promise to do the same for the girls.”

 

REGINA HIGH SCHOOL’S FRENCH PEN PEL PROGRAM

The students of Sr. Rose Mary Sam, IHM’s French III class at Regina High School are participating in a special pen pal project with a small rural school, in the village of Charentay, in the south of France. Sr. Sam and one of her friends, Nadine Jaillardon, initiated the program. Nadine thought of the idea while working with Sr. Sam in Lourdes, France over the summer. Sr. Sam thought it was a great idea because academically, it reinforces the second language skill, and until now, Sr. Sam had found it difficult to run a successful one-to- one pen pal project. Students normally pay companies to link them with a pen pal with usually no supervision afterward. Sr. Sam and Nadine personally supervise the program. About a month ago, the French III class wrote letters partly in French and partly in English and sent them to Nadine’s students. Nadine’s students were thrilled with the letters; she in turn matched her students to their American counterparts. Their letters arrived and the feelings of excitement were mutual. The students shared the mix of French and English letters aloud to the class and even displayed the letters at Regina’s Open House. The interest has now extended to the French IV class and beyond. A graduate of Nadine’s school is in her 6th year of studying English and was eager for an American pen pal. Immediately Erica Podsiadly, a Regina Junior, who has won an award to attend the Alliance Francaise for her outstanding work three years in a row, offered to write to her. “We are delighted with the project and hope to keep it going for years to come,” said Sr. Sam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Photo by Deb Jacques, Courtesy of C & G Newspapers.”

Regina High School - 13900 Masonic Blvd. - Warren, Michigan 48088

Phone: 586-585-0500 - Fax: 586-585-0507