VIDEO: St. Helen Catholic Academy Students Study Hispanic Saints
HOWARD BEACH — Students at St. Helen Catholic Academy spent Hispanic Heritage Month learning about the lives of Hispanic saints and discovering connections between faith, culture, and their own family histories.
Sixth through eighth grade students researched 17 saints with connections to Spain and Latin America as part of a classroom project. Each student created a poster board highlighting a saint and included a personal reflection about what they learned.
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For Ella Siver, a sixth grader at St. Helen Catholic Academy, the project offered an opportunity to bring together two subjects she does not normally associate with one another.
“It was definitely something new that I learned because we never really get to combine religion and Spanish together,” Ella said.
The students studied the lives and legacies of 17 holy men and women, learning about their faith and the cultures and communities they came from.
The personal reflections gave students an opportunity to connect the stories of the saints to their own experiences.
Nicholas Laurusevicius, a sixth grader at St. Helen Catholic Academy, said he connected with a saint who is a patron of immigrants because of the saint’s extensive travels.
“He’s a patron saint of immigrants because of how much he traveled, which is almost like my parents because they’re immigrants too,” Nicholas said.
For the students’ art and Spanish teacher, the project was also about encouraging them to understand and appreciate cultures beyond their own.
Valeria Olaya-Florez said connecting students’ cultures with others can help them recognize the ways people are connected despite their differences.
“I think it’s really important that we also connect each student’s culture with other cultures so that we can recognize that we’re really all connected in our own ways,” Valeria said.
The project gave the students a chance to explore Hispanic saints through both their Catholic faith and their cultural heritage, while reflecting on how the stories they studied connect to their own lives.