By Edgardo Juarez

 On the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Francis signed his most recent Apostolic Exhortation, Christus Vivit, a document addressed to young people and to the entire people of God. 
 He begins the exhortation by stating, “Christ is Alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life.” (CV, 1).

 The Coding Team at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Riverside took first place in a national competition.
 CodeMonkey’s Code Rush is an annual computer coding competition for third through eighth graders in the U.S and Canada, drawing hundreds of schools and thousands of students each year. In this competition, teams will play through 150 challenges, covering programming topics such as objects, functions, simple loops, variables, arrays and for-loops.

SAN BERNARDINO—Holy Week is one of the main reasons parents choose Catholic School. Children at Our Lady of the Assumption School are prime examples of students taking full advantage of the many opportunities for worship and celebration that Holy Week provides.

CORONA—St. Edward Catholic School, Corona announced the selection of four teachers, Ms. Darlene Shimizu, Miss Janet Klotz, Mrs. Vicki Hicks and Mr. Jourdain Renteria as Fellows in the 2019 cohort of the Trustey Family STEM Teaching Fellows.
 These teachers were selected from nine different schools in the program’s fifth cohort and will join over 120 teachers from the program’s first four cohorts.

SACRAMENTO—On April 3, 16 youths from the Diocese traveled to Sacramento for the annual Catholic Youth Advocacy Day.
 The day represents a yearly opportunity for young people to gain the experience of talking with elected leaders about public policy issues and getting a first hand look at how the process of state government works.

SAN BERNARDINO—Where else can you get a photo opportunity with George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Abraham Lincoln among other illustrious presidents, or First Ladies Jaqueline Kennedy, Louisa Adams and Martha Jefferson?  Only at Our Lady of the Assumption School in San Bernardino.

 OLA’s second grade class, under the expert guidance of teacher/tour director Jennifer Houghton, presented to parents and students a Presidents Day rendition of past leaders of our country.  Students prepared a brief presentation for peers and parents and dressed as their president of choice.  Mrs. Houghton also encouraged students to dress as presidents’ wives, if they so chose, as the ultimate influencers of their time.  The students researched their chosen personality, dressed in clothes appropriate for their character, and filled the room with presidential knowledge.  

 “The second graders really got into the personalities of their people,”  Mrs. Houghton remarked, noting the excitement of the students. “Dressing the part made it come alive for them.”  

 The second graders gave their presentations several times throughout the day.  

 “I like having a day off,” remarked Marley, donning Jaqueline Kennedy’s signature pill box hat as part of her costume, “but showing all the big kids how we’re the presidents is great, too.”