BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Elementary school students at Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Anthony's celebrated their faith, teachers, parish communities and area businesses during Catholic Schools Week Jan. 26-Feb. 1.

Each day of the week had a theme designed to highlight the academic, emotional, social and spiritual facets of Catholic education.

"I came to St. Anthony's School because my parents wanted me to get a good education," wrote Valencia Wicker, a fifth-grader at the West End Historic District school, when asked to describe her Catholic school experience. "Here the teachers are very nice. They work hard with me, encouraging me to have a positive attitude, to be the best that I can be, to always use the gifts that God has given me, to learn all that I can and to believe in myself. My parents wanted me to learn God's word because with God I can do all things. My parents also liked the family environment where the teachers nurture and reinforce family values. Being around students that care and share with one another really makes coming to school feel like home."

Catholic Schools Week began with separate parish celebrations Sunday, Jan. 26 at which each school honored exemplary alumni from the professional, college and high school arenas.

St. Anthony's recognized Jemia Kinsey, a 1993 graduate who is a senior at Benjamin E. Mays High School; Akpovogoho Igherighe, a 1991 graduate who is a sophomore at Emory University's International School of Business and Mario Watkins, a 1986 graduate currently in medical residency at Emory University.

Our Lady of Lourdes School recognized Ashley Jones, a 1993 graduate who is a sophomore at St. Pius X High School; Zachary English, a 1994 graduate who is a freshman at St. Pius; Janssen Dale Rasaan Robinson, a 1989 graduate studying medical illustration at the University of Georgia and Gloria Cole of the class of 1952 who graduated from Spelman College and teaches in the parish school of religion.

Parents gathered at St. Anthony's Monday, Jan. 27 and at Our Lady of Lourdes Friday, Jan. 31 to have lunch with their children. At teachers' day Jan. 29, Dr. Bill Bedford, principal of both schools, presented each teacher with a rose and all were guests at a catered lunch. On Thursday students dressed up as their favorite story character. Special recognition was given to students for community involvement, exemplary progress and Christian citizenship during a Mass held Monday at Our Lady of Lourdes and Friday at St. Anthony's.

Tuesday, Jan. 28 both schools held community days in which guest speakers from nearby businesses addressed the students. Each school adopted these corporations and students made a commitment to pray for them, to keep the grounds of their stores clean and to encourage parents to patronize them.

Students at Our Lady of Lourdes in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District heard from Porsche Scott, publisher of Atlanta Daily World; Alex Ojezua, store manager of Church's Fried Chicken; Bobby Coakley, funeral director apprentice of Cox Brothers Funeral Home; Lt. Sandra Padgett of the Atlanta Police Department; Marcus Wimby, chief executive officer of Haugabrook Funeral Home; Pat Armstrong, a Kroger manager, and Dale Benjamin, director of special markets for Atlanta Life Insurance Co.

Students at St. Anthony's heard from Ewa Ealy, assistant manager of the Shrine of the Black Madonna Bookstore and Cultural Center; Wiley Canty, store manager of Eckerd drugstore; Carol Mumford, executive director of the Wren's Nest; Gayle Barnett, branch manager of Wachovia; Lee May, journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Wesley Williams of Our Family Table and Regina Sanders from the accounting department of Georgia Power.

School officials hope that adoption will lead to an ongoing relationship between the students and the businesses. In March representatives from these businesses will participate in a financial expo at St. Anthony's. Representatives have also been invited back to each of the schools for career days in early May. It is hoped that some of the companies will contribute to the schools' annual appeal which began Feb. 1. The schools hope to raise $60,000 for tuition assistance, staff development, operational expenses and the purchase of computers, books and supplies.