Faith-based lessons vital to TCC students

The theme for this year’s national Catholic Schools Week is “Faith-Academics-Service.” These also are words the Catholic schools of Tuscarawas County embrace as they educate students in a faith-filled environment.  

At TCC Elementary, students are taught daily how to live their lives as Christians and how to spread the good news of God’s word.  Students participate in religion classes daily, Mass weekly, and engage in many learning opportunities that allow them to learn and live the Catholic faith.

Principal Theresa Layton explains that these activities are woven into many facets of student life. “Whether it’s a classroom prayer service to celebrate all Saint’s Day, sixth-graders performing a Bible story for younger students, or second-graders sharing Las Posadas with the entire student body, students are learning, living, and sharing their faith each and every day,” she said.

Academics continue to be a strong element of success for TCCES students.  Each year, students in grades 3-6 take “Terra Nova” standardized tests. The scores provide the faculty with information about how students’ academic performance compares with others across the nation.

Proudly, they find that more than 80 percnt of TCCES students score above the national average in all assessed areas. The scores each year indicate that students continue to exceed national standards.  

A new science curriculum was implemented at TCCES this year. Students are more highly engaged in science activities, providing them with increased hands-on, inquiry-based lessons. They are conducting experiments, testing hypotheses, applying new vocabulary and concepts, and learning science in manner that allows them to excel with activities they enjoy.

Students are also participating in a new, weekly Spanish curriculum. Students access Spanish lessons in the computer lab through the web-based Rosetta stone program. This gives younger students a jump-start on learning a foreign language instead of waiting to learn one in later years.  Students are enjoying the self-paced lessons, allowing them to progress at their own levels according to their abilities.

TCCES students recognize that there are many people locally, nationally and globally who need help and prayers. This year, they collected more than 100 jars of peanut butter and jelly for the St. Joseph Parish Food Pantry. During December’s Advent Prayer Service, students collected money to donate to the local Homeless Shelter.

Students also participated in the Reach for the Stars Read-A-Thon during the Christmas holiday through Usborne Books. The reading project enabled them to collect new books to be given as gifts to children in the community. During Catholic Schools Week, students will have a Crazy Sock Day to collect money for the Souper Bowl of Caring in a joint effort with TCC Jr/Sr High to fight hunger.

This year’s kindergarten, first- and second-grade students collected enough change to buy flocks of chicks through the Heifer International Project that works to solve the problem of world hunger. The funds are used to buy starter flocks of chicks so families can have eggs needed for their meals. Since a good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year, some families are then able to sell some of their eggs so to generate an income for the family.

Like all of the Catholic schools in Tuscarawas County, TCCES is a blessing for the community. The parishes, students, families, faculty, and staff are at the core of their success as they continue to thrive in “Faith-Academics-Service.”