CRANSTON — Summer is nearly in full swing for schools around the diocese as many begin their end-of-year outdoor activities.
For St. Mary School in Cranston, that day is known as “Olympic Day,” where Pre-K through eighth graders are split into country-themed teams and rotate between exciting activities such as an obstacle course, water relay, corn hole, a few blow-up tents with basketball hoops, and classic burgers and hotdogs for lunch.
The day kicked off Friday morning with a creative and homemade parade of floats from each team’s country that the students prepared. This required a bit of research, on the country’s culture, food, and flag, all put on display on a bunch of little red wagons.
“We had the music playing, the kids yelling, the whole nine yards,” Principal Lisa Lepore said. “We had two kids in the gondola, they made a gondola for Italy.”
Lepore says that she and faculty make sure to switch the country lineup around just a bit every year, but one thing never changes:
“Pre-K is the United States, always,” she said. She figures it’s always best to teach students to be proud of their home country early on.
“Italy always tends to get in there because we’re an Italian parish,” Lepore added.
Though Lepore has been teaching and leading schools for almost 40 years, she never gets tired of Olympic Day—or bored, for that matter. She remains a fierce leader with a supportive and dedicated staff that she calls family. She also says that it’s the community atmosphere that makes both the school and the parish so special.
“We have parents, grandparents, moms, dads, aunties come out,” Lepore said. “My sisters are here, my nieces are here.”
This year’s Olympic Day was bittersweet for Lepore; as there are only a few more school days left before she retires after 39 years of working in Catholic education. She was a teacher for 16 years before becoming the principal of St. Leo’s School up until that parish closed. She worked there for a total of 23 years.
“I’ve loved every minute of my career,” Lepore said. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. It’s all I know.”
St. Mary’s School is home to 170 kids, including 26 Pre-K students, which is a higher number than in recent years.
Lepore said that now is a great time to sign up for Pre-K enrollment or meet with a teacher. Visit www.stmaryschoolri.org for more information.
