Holy Thursday at St. Thomas Aquinas
Written by Christine Stornelli, Student Journalist
This year at St.Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in Tottenham, the Holy Thursday celebration was held virtually from the safety of each student’s classroom. Holy Thursday is the fifth day of Holy Week, or, a celebration held on the last Thursday before Easter, commemorating the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper.
To celebrate Holy Thursday in Covid safe fashion, Ms.Whelton, St. Thomas Aquinas’ school chaplain had the idea to create a slideshow, which was put together by Mr.Wilson, shared with each teacher and shown to their classes, eliminating contact between students and teachers from other classrooms. The slideshow contained a tableau of each station of the cross created by Mr.Fetterley’s Grade 9 drama class with students from Ms.Padvalej’s Grade 12 English class doing the readings to accompany each tableau.
The presentation wouldn’t be the same without music and that was provided by Mrs.Vanderstelt and her students. The song at the beginning of the presentation was performed by Jane V., the song at the 12th station of the cross was performed by Christine S., and the closing song featured Mrs.Vanderstelt, Matthias T. and Jacob B.
The presentation is a great example of how staff and students are adapting and able to continue our traditions as a school community even when we have to take an alternate route from what we are used to. It was also a great example of the creativeness and willingness to come together shown by each of the participants in our school community. On behalf of the student body I would like to thank Ms.Whelton, Mr.Wilson, Ms.Podvalej’s class, Mrs.Vanderstelt, Matthias, Jacob, Jane and Christine for creating a safe opportunity for us to continue practicing our faith together while being apart.