Gulf Pine Catholic

18 Gulf Pine Catholic • May 18, 2018 Spotlight on Schools At the City of Biloxi 35th Annual Volunteer Recognition Ceremony on Tuesday, April 24, the St. Patrick High School National Honor Society [NHS] and St. Patrick Senior Natallie Noel received awards for the Youth Volunteer Group of the Year and Youth Volunteer of the Year, respectively! Jamie Stanovich and Richard Springer will also be nominated for Youth Volunteer of the Year. Within the application for the Youth Volunteer Group Award, St. Patrick NHS sponsor Liz Wilkinson said, “Overall, the SPCHS NHS lives the corporal and spiritual works of mercy by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and comforting others. The goal of the group is to live the four pillars: integrity, service, char- acter, and scholarship.” The St. Patrick High School National Honor Society is an active service club. The club has 135 members who were selected based on integrity, service, charac- ter, and scholarship. The members are in grades ten, eleven and twelve. The club has completed many ser- vice projects. Every fall the group makes at least 100 bags for the homeless. The items are given to Our Lady of Fatima’s St. Vincent de Paul. For Christmas the group makes gift bags for the elderly who live in Heaven’s Harbor Private Care Home, the retired Sisters of Mercy, who live in Mobile, and the retired Diocesan priests who live in Biloxi. In the spring, the group collects clothes and other items to donate to the Humane Society to sell in the thrift shop. The group has several food drives throughout the year, providing canned goods to a dif- ferent church’s St. Vincent de Paul each time, and if anyone knows of a family in need, they make that fam- ily a basket of food. Wilkinson also nominated Natallie Noel for the Youth Volunteer Award, in which she penned, “Natallie is a natural leader. She has served on the student coun- cil, where she participated in several leadership confer- ences both at local and state levels. She has attended student council conferences in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon. These conferences helped strengthen her already excellent team building and leadership skills. Natallie is not only a leader through her actions and behavior but also a spiritual leader. She has been an altar server at her church since she was in elementary school. The fact that a high school student will still serve in front of his or her peers displays his or her faith and spiritual leadership. Overall, Natallie is a well-rounded young lady who is well-respected. She is involved in church, school, and community activities. She is an intelligent young lady who realizes the importance of education and realizes she needs to make the world a better place. She cer- tainly has the leadership skills and the determination.” On winning the award, Noel said, “I didn’t expect to be nominated, so winning this award was a very big surprise. I don’t think of the things I do for others as volunteering. I love to be active and involved in things that make a difference to others. I know that I can do things that I love for the benefit of others. ‘One gives freely, yet grows all the richer’ -- Proverbs. I will con- tinue my volunteering in college while pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. I enjoy helping chil- dren and watch them learn new ideas and concepts.” St. Patrick High School, Biloxi NHS officers, members and sponsor Liz Wilkinson receive the Volunteer Group of the Year award from Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gillich. Pray for all those who are suffering from the results of hurricanes, earthquakes, and war. Pray for peace on earth! Each year OLF fifth graders and sixth graders are invited to submit an application for the Gardetto Hahn Scholarship. The scholarship helps students with tuition for fifth grade students entering the sixth grade at OLF and sixth grade students entering the seventh grade at St. Patrick High School. The students must complete a formal application indicating why they are deserving of the award. Father Henry McInerney announced the winners on May 3. Above, Taylor Jernigan and Linda Mustered won the seventh grade scholarship and, below, Kamryn Donoian and Carter McLendon won the sixth grade scholarship. Each student won a $1,500 scholarship to be used for tuition. Our Lady of Fatima Elementary School, Biloxi