SFDSCA Students Selected to Rep New York in White House Tree Display

By Katie McFadden

Not everyone can say an ornament they made is hanging on a tree as part of a national Christmas display outside of the White House in Washington, D.C., but this year, 24 students from St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy (SFDSCA) can say just that.

For two sixth-grade classes at SFDSCA in Belle Harbor, Christmas began on the second day of school in September. “Over the summer, a friend of mine asked me if the school would be interested in making ornaments for the national tree in Washington, D.C. They only pick one school per state, and she was wondering if SFDS would be interested. The new federal administration is trying to keep Christ in Christmas. They never pick Catholic schools, they usually pick public schools, so I said we’d love to be considered,” fifth and sixth-grade English-Language Arts teacher Nancy Re explained.

Next thing she knew, Re got a special email, saying SFDSCA was chosen to make ornaments for the New York state tree, one of more than 50 small trees for every state and U.S, territory, that surround the large National Tree in The Ellipse of President’s Park, just south of the White House. “I got a note in August saying FLOTUS needs you! What? FLOTUS needs me? I’m ready!” Re said, but SFDSCA needed a little more time. “Because so many schools across the country start earlier in the year, the due date to make ornaments was the second day we had school, so I had to reach out and ask for an extension and they gave us until September 15. The minute my students came into school, we started making these ornaments,” Re said.

The students were given the theme of “What Makes My State Beautiful,” so Re and fellow sixth-grade teacher Laura Sullivan helped them come up with a list of state landmarks or things that make New York what it is, like the Empire State Building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Niagara Falls and more, and had the students pick them out of a hat. Although a little early for Christmas, the assignment became a lesson as the students had to research things about New York, write about it and draw it. Two sixth grade classes, made up of 58 students, got to participate, each making their own New York-inspired ornament, but only 12-25 would be chosen for the tree. “We sent them all in and let them pick,” Re said.

Twenty-four ornaments were chosen for the New York tree as part of the national display.  They include ornaments by Collin Heeran, Cassie Corvi, Emma Layden, Enzo Pincay, Amelia Bukowski, Annabel Spina, Liam Fahn, Hannah McElhinney, Jonathan Mandala, Alexandra Teahan, Brynn Burns, Olivia Hayden, Bianca Wittrock, Thomas McGoorty, Thomas Cozza, Khloe Durante, Kieran Ruskin, Eva Lawton, Brogan Hearn, Mikey O’Neill, Thomas Brunton, Michael Hernandez, Kayla Daly and Stella Buonanno.

All 58 students were going to go to the lighting of the National Tree, as the students wrote persuasive essays to Principal Chris Scharbach asking for permission and coming up with ways to raise money for buses for the trip. Without hesitation, Principal Scharbach said yes, but due to the recent government shutdown, communication with the federal government had stopped and plans had changed for who could attend the event. Instead, a lottery system was held where two kids and their families could attend the National Tree Lighting conducted by First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday, December 4. Those lucky winners were Kieran Ruskin and Eva Lawton, who sent back photos and videos from the experience.

However, not only are the students’ ornaments on the New York tree, all 24 are featured on the National Tree website, www.thenationaltree.org, for all to see. And Alexandra Teahan’s essay and ornament for The Brooklyn Bridge, is prominently displayed on the website. Additionally, the hard work of the other students whose ornaments weren’t selected for the official New York tree, did not go unnoticed.

“We only had to send scanned ornaments and essays, so we got to keep all of the originals,” Re said. “So what we did is we put the originals on a tree in our school lobby. We have a tree for the late Kathy Farragher, a beloved former teacher who loved Christmas, so the ornaments are on that, which is a nice thing for the kids whose ornaments weren’t picked.” The tree with the ornaments has been prominently displayed for all to see, including parents and family members that have come in for report card days and to see holiday concerts at the school this month.

The opportunity has been exciting for both the students and staff. “I’m extremely proud of them for a lot of reasons. One is the time constraint we were on and how diligently they worked. Also, there’s not a lot of times where you get an opportunity to do so many aspects of ELA together. They did research, writing and illustration and very rarely do you get to the fifth step of the writing process, which is the publication of their work, so this was a nice culmination of all of their hard work,” Re said. “And it’s been very exciting for the students! They’re proud and we’re learning words like FLOTUS and POTUS, so getting them involved in civics is an extra bonus.”

The National Tree and its surrounding state trees will be on display through January 6 at President’s Park (15th St. NW &, E St. NW, Washington, DC). To see the SFDSCA ornaments online, head to: www.thenationaltree.org