Thank you to all the students who entered our
"Light the Way"
writing competition.

Read the Essays by our Winners Below!

Brock Settlemier
Corpus Christi School in Piedmont 3rd Grade

Corpus Christi school helps me be a better person by teaching me to love and respect my teachers, friends, family and neighbors.

Corpus has taught me the joy of helping others. We give food, warm coats, and money to people in need. We donate our time, or love and spread peace. We are proud that, through giving, we are able to help our community and brighten the lives of people less fortunate that us.

Corpus makes me happy and teaches me how to be a good Catholic Christian. I hope through my school and good deeds that I can “light the way” for my community and make it a great place to grow up.

Brenna McKinley
Holy Family School in San Jose, 4th Grade

I believe that my school lights the way for me and my community because my school is a family that lives together, learns together, and will always be together. As we live and learn together we are persons of faith and we try to act like Jesus. We are responsible citizens and we treat each other with respect. We make good choices and are life-long learners. We work hard every day and do outreach projects to help other people have better lives and experience God's love through us. This is how my school "lights the way" in my life and my community's life.

Vu Truong
St. Hilary in Tiburon, 4th Grade

My school lights the way in my community and in my life by teaching us about God and how to be kind and good. Another way, that my community helps me is by teaching me how to be a life long learner. My community lights the way by giving me guidance and support. The teachers teach how to be like Jesus and follow God’s plan. I have learned in my class to treat others how I would like to be treated, following the Golden Rule. My community has taught me that I am a beloved child of God.

Timothy Ngo
St. Lawrence School in Santa Clara, 5th Grade

At Christmas we celebrated the birth of Jesus, who is the light of the world. Each of us is also called to be the light of the world for others. My school, Saint Lawrence Elementary and Middle School, reminds us that we are called to be the light of the world for others here and all over the world.

At Saint Lawrence, I have learned that I can light the way for others by doing community service, being a good role model, and being kind to everyone I meet. For example, we have donation drives when we donate warm coats, food, and money for people in need. Also, we follow good Christian behavior to set a good example for the younger students at our school. We use good, clean language on the playground, we play fair, and we respect teachers and other students and their property. Finally, we are kind to classmates, helping them with class work, include them at recess play, and don’t bully them. By doing all these things I can light the way in my school community.

We also learned that we can light the way for others all over the world. For instance, we pray for peace at Mass and donate money for the poor in other countries. Also, we collect school supplies we don’t need and send them to students in other countries who can’t afford any. During Christmas, we collected, cleaned, and sent stuffed animals to children in our local community as presents. All of these things bring light to others in our community and around the world.

Saint Lawrence Elementary and Middle School teaches us to “Light the Way” in our community and in the world by living the Gospel in our daily lives. We learn to treat others with kindness and respect and to help those who need our help. In this way, we can share Christ’s love for us with others and bring light into our world.

Brianna Rodrigues
Holy Family School in San Jose, 5th Grade

At Holy Family School we “Light the Way” by doing community outreach projects. Our school has food drives a couple times each year to give canned food to Second Harvest Food Bank. Last year our school recycled cell phones to save the environment. Before Christmas, my class earned money to buy gifts for the elderly. My school helps “light” my life by showing me how to act and help others in the community.

As we do more for the community, I realize that it is more about others than myself. Each month students at Holy Family participate in outreach projects to help the community. During the food drives our class usually fills three barrels, which are then donated to needy families. When our school, collected cell phones they were recycled, so we could have a safer environment. My favorite outreach project was when my fifth grade class and one of the fourth grade classes went shopping to buy gifts for the elderly at Christmas time, with the money we earned from doing chores. All these projects help “Light the Way” in our community.

By serving the community, it helps me to be a better person. Even though I am only ten years old, I can see that I can still make a difference. Helping others “Lights the Way” in my life, by opening my eyes to see what happens in the real world. I can see I am blessed. I am proud to be a part of Holy Family School.

Jill Marie Millare
Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Daly City, 6th Grade

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School lights the way because of its dedication to the formation of the whole child, spiritually and academically. OLPH School is always committed to provide quality education not just academically but also integrates Catholic values in its curriculum. Our Lady of Perpetual Help nourishes the intellectual, social, physical, psychological, and spiritual growth of each child. I also learned that the school supports and encourages the role of teachers, staff and parents as religious educators to the whole OLPH community. Our Lady of Perpetual Help School teaches the students to respect themselves and others. It teaches the students to appreciate various cultures and encourages emotional growth and development.

I am so grateful for all the things that the Our Lady of Perpetual Help community has done to me. OLPH helped me to develop my abilities like the appreciation for arts, math, language and science. I have continued to grow emotionally, academically and have strong Christian values with the help and guidance from our principal, teachers and staff. I have also developed the interests in sports. OLPH School developed a physical education program that provides us students games and exercises. OLPH doesn’t only teach us to win but also to have fun and have good relationship with our team mates, coaches and players from other schools.

These are just some of the things that the OLPH School has provided and taught me. This will always help me deal with my daily life.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School will continue to light the way for my future and the whole community as well.

Francesca Puccinelli
St. Veronica Catholic School in S. San Francisco, 7th-8th Grade

It is 8:00 A.M. in South San Francisco on a Tuesday morning. You see the low, hanging clouds drifting near a hill that says “South San Francisco the Industrial City.” You hear a chorus of prayers being said. Next a child comes in front of all of his or her schoolmates holding the American flag and students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Students are filing into classes now for a day of learning. “This,” you say, “must be St. Veronica Catholic School.”

After the hustle and bustle of the first two classes, it is recess time. The seventh graders are playing a game of basketball and you see how compassionate they are towards each other. One of them trips, and they all come scampering toward the injured player. “These kids,” you state, “are like a family.” Recess ends as the bell rings and the kids head into the gym for a project to help those in need.

The children gather in groups with one member from each grade called school families. They are creating baskets for the less fortunate. In the library there is countless number of baskets that the student council will be bringing to a homeless shelter. You are sure that the recipients of the baskets will be overjoyed to receive them. In a flash, the day is over and it has been a great experience for you to see how St. Veronica lights the way for its students to be leaders in whatever their future dreams may be.

Brenna Hyland
Corpus Christi School in Piedmont, 8th Grade

My Corpus Christi community, while small within the greater Christian world, provides a path for hundreds of families to celebrate together. Our community provides a nourishing circle of life, encouraging young things to grow. We are all citizens of this garden. My garden is watered, fed, and encouraged by God; and the energetic staff of my school and our neighboring church. I notice tangled weeds straightened into blooming tulips; conceited roses becoming joyful daisies. A garden requires many small necessities but they all matter to have it thrive. Water, light, and love are needed for our spiritual survival. I think of the unruliness of the kindergarteners and the strength of the eighth graders combined with the wisdom of the alumni who return at every possible event. Each fulfills an important component to complete our garden. Similarly, the light of God illuminates the way to Jesus, love, and our lives. If we do not choose to live in this light, we will not complement the full garden that the Corpus Christi community had kept thriving for over 50 years.

My classmates and I are encouraged to help the less fortunate, local and worldwide. We have built and maintained the Butterfly Garden at our local AIDS Outreach Center, and recently, we have engaged upon fundraising for 2 wells for communities in Uganda. Following Jesus’ word, I am striving to be a caring person so that my path through the fields ahead is filled with joy, laughter, love, and the light of God.

Lisa Dimech
St. Veronica Catholic School in S. San Francisco, 8th Grade
A Lighthouse for Others

Webster’s dictionary defines light as “Energy producing a sensation of brightness that makes seeing possible”. To me, St. Veronica Catholic School in South San Francisco is like a lighthouse that gives off energy and points me in the right direction. St. Veronica’s has taught me to look beyond myself and to reach out to others. By participating in school community service activities, I have been inspired to go the extra mile and come up with my own projects to help needy people right in my own backyard.

This year before Thanksgiving, I organized a Children’s Book Drive at school. Through my research, I discovered that there are many children right in my own community that do not have access to books in their homes, schools, or libraries. I proposed the idea of a Book Drive to my principal because I thought donating used books would be a simple, yet free, way to help children. I believe that placing books in the hands of needy children will benefit them for years to come. My goal was to motivate the students to donate 1,000 gently-used books; however, we exceeded my target by collecting 2,010 books for the Children’s Book Project in San Francisco.

Mahatma Gandhi preached, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” I strongly believe this is true! St. Veronica School and my family have given me the foundation and now it is up to me to build on these principles and become a lighthouse for others.