DURYEA — The Holy Rosary School gymnasium was rocking Thursday as students donned their best blue and gold attires ready to enjoy friendly competition.
Students in grades four through eight competed in a cheer off with their own choreographed routines, followed by a volleyball game against the school’s faculty members.
They were two of the many activities the school did during Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 29 through Feb. 3.
According to Holy Rosary School Principal Candice Lee, Catholic Schools Week is a nationwide week to celebrate Catholic schools.
“This week has been a fun-filled week,” Lee said. “Each day we have a different theme which included a movie on Monday, a flea market, a bake sale and of course (Thursday) is usually the funnest day because they have gym day in the morning and then our annual volleyball game.”
For the cheer off, each class in grades four through eight practiced routines with the music of its choice at a chance to win the Spirit Stick, of which the winning class will maintain position until next year’s Catholic Schools Week.
Sym teacher Ann Levandoski said the students used their gym period for the past two weeks to practice their routines. The music aspect of the routines was new last year and carried into this year.
“Last year the current eighth grade class was the first class to not have any cheerleaders, so they brought in the musical component,” she said. “That kind of blew up this year. I think every grade, with the exception of fourth because this is their first year in the cheer off, incorporated music into their routine.”
Faculty members judged the routines and, after a lengthy discussion, declared the seventh-grade students the winners.
For Abby Lazecki, 12, and Cole Ferranti, 13, their hard work paid off.
“Before, we were just praying that we’d win,” said Lazecki. “We really didn’t want to go through much trouble and keep it all calm.”
This marked the second year in a row seventh-grade students won the cheer off, and Ferranti said beating the eighth-grade students, who won as seventh-grade students last year, was a big accomplishment.
“It was big because we beat the eighth-graders,” he said. “We didn’t really think we’d win, so it’s pretty big.”
When the cheer off was over, the faculty faced off against the students in volleyball.
Students in grades five through eight participated, but were split off by gender, so fifth-grade girls played first, then fifth-grade boys and so on.
Fifth-grade teacher Betsy Kozak participated in the volleyball game for the 10th year and said it gets better every year.
While score was kept during the games, nobody paid attention to who was winning or losing as Kozak said it’s about just having fun, which is what Catholic Schools Week is all about.
“It’s just fun,” she said. “You’re out of the element of the classroom and you get to see the students in a different light, and they get to see us. It’s just fun.”
