Catholic school students from 16 schools in Arkansas collected pennies to support St. Peter School in Pine Bluff for a total of $8,995.
“Part of our mission as a Catholic school is our responsibility to each other. All of the principals heard that St. Peter was having difficulty and we weren’t sure how to help. When I came up with the idea, I knew it was a way we could help,” said Kimberlee Felix, principal at St. Joseph School in Paris.
Catholic School Superintendent Vernell Bowen recognized the Catholic schools’ contributions in a presentation following Mass Jan. 31 to pastor Father Thomas Anil, SVD.
The Mass was part of St. Peter School’s celebration of Catholic Schools Week.
Felix came up with the original idea as a service project for her students.
The school in the past had a penny war competition to raise money for their playground. Felix thought why not collect pennies for St. Peter School, as a way to help and support a Catholic school in need?
“I’m glad it worked out the way it did,” Felix said. “We saw in this that we could all do a little bit of our part for another school. Our mission is about helping the community and this was a way to extend our service to them.”
St. Peter School is the state’s last predominantly black Catholic school with a 122-year history of educating students in Pine Bluff.
St. Peter has faced financial difficulties and declining enrollment since 2005. The school faced closure in December 2011 if it did not raise $175,000.
Father Thomas sent out a call to the community in November for the 7-7-7 plan — raise $175,000 in seven days and craft a seven-year strategic plan over the next seven months for St. Peter School.
With the community’s support, they raised $150,000 that was enough to keep the school open until May 2012. The total raised is now close to $170,000.
The school is currently enrolling students to see if they can meet the minimum enrollment required to keep St. Peter open for the 2012-2013 school year. The deadline to enroll children, preK3 to 6th grade, is March 1, so a decision can be made.
Once Felix passed along her idea for the “Pennies for St. Peter” campaign, other Catholic school principals followed suit.
“Our children do appreciate their Catholic education. Also, it’s good for them to not take it for granted. When a Catholic school closes, the children are the most impacted. It’s a good way for our children to realize they have a hand in helping another child in another school,” said principal Marguerite Olberts of St. Theresa School in Little Rock.
Even though each Catholic school has a community that they serve, Olberts said, they are also connected to other Catholic schools. They understand how difficult it is for those at St. Peter, she said, and wanted them to know they support their “sister school.”
“Many of us are experiencing struggles with finances. Our hearts went out to them. We hate the idea of a Catholic school closing. This was our small way to help and a way the children can help. Ours is a small amount, but it still shows our prayers and support,” Olberts said.
Each year Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock collects pennies in their “Pennies for Heaven” drive for the school’s endowment. When principal Ileana Dobbins heard Felix’s idea, she wanted to share in the mission to support St. Peter’s too.
“It’s important for them to know they’ve been blessed. For them to turn around and help another Catholic school and help other children be able to receive what they are, it is a tremendous gift to all of us. It helps us look at what we have and not forget those blessings,” Dobbins said.
