The students at St. John’s Prep, Astoria, concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. The world may have some cracks, but at the Prep, students discover that the cracks also let the light shine through. And so, as they have done for almost 150 years, St. John’s Prep students continue the Vincentian tradition to serve and give hope. A highlight of the Advent and Christmas season are the Prep’s food, clothes and toy drives. Pictured above, a van from St. John the Baptist Church from Bed-Stuy, gets ready to roll out with donations after the school’s Christmas Mass.

The theater group from Christ the King R.H.S., Middle Village, visited Dry Harbor Nursing Home to spread some holiday cheer where they performed a medley of songs from their recent theater production, “A Night at the Movies, A Musical Revue,” which just ended a three-performance run at the school.

For this Christmas season, students from St. Agnes A.H.S., College Point, collected toys for young girls. The freshmen and sophomores collected baskets of toys to be donated to St. John’s Bread & Life Program.