Nativity of Our Savior School and St. John Bosco Celebrate Unity Through Pen Pals and School Visit

Nativity of Our Savior School and St. John Bosco Celebrate Unity Through Pen Pals and School Visit

Nativity of Our Savior School students had an exciting opportunity to meet other students from Hammond's St. John Bosco school in celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

Nativity of Our Savior School Principal Sally Skowronski has been planning this meeting since late last year with St. John Bosco school principal Mark Kielbania. What started as a pen pal program eventually ended up as a meeting and a trip to the school in Hammond.

For Skowronski, this trip holds a more significant meaning than a school trip as this marked a return to her old school since Skowronski was a previous alumni from 1994.

"We have been planning this since before Christmas last year when our students became pen pals with the classes at St. John Bosco," said Skowronski. "After reaching out to principal Kielbania during a meeting, he loved the idea and it grew from there. We wanted a way to celebrate Catholic Schools Week and just turned into the perfect way to do so."

Since becoming pen pals, Nativity of Our Savior School and St. John Bosco exchanged letters, drawings, brochures, cards and photos. Skowronski even made a guest appearance on WJOB AM 1230 to talk about the partnership, which increased positive recognition for both schools.

"Our students really enjoyed meeting with the students from Nativity of Our Savior," said Kielbania. "The kids were excited, they behaved well, and enjoyed getting to meet new people from Portage."

"It was great for the students to put a face to the names they have been writing to for the past few months," said Skowronski. "The distance from Portage to Hammond may not seem that far to adults, but for kids, it seems far. It was an exciting trip for students to see the differences from their school and being able to participate in the different activities we had planned for them that day."

For both schools, this opportunity presented more than just a visit, it presented an opportunity to build a strong relationship between two schools and unity of which each school represents.

"This was such a great day to have our kids reach out and meet new kids," said Skowronski. "It is always a great thing for our kids to make new connections."

"It was great to have the schools come together to celebrate our love of Christ, which is the most important thing we teach at our school," said Kielbania. "We plan on visiting Portage next year and hope that we can continue this for many years to come."