Yesterday, Reagan and Terrence, two fourth graders, excitedly stopped me in the hallway to share their poetry. Inspired by William Carlos Williams' "Red Wheelbarrow," they and the other fourth graders wrote poems about the importance and value of ordinary objects like clocks and paper using Williams' rhyming pattern and structure. I was impressed with their creativity and use of language. The poems are one of Holy Name's many signs of fall; another one of those signs is outside Mr. Gordon's room. The 6th graders' Pumpkin Poetry is on display. After choosing a famous figure, 6th graders decorated a pumpkin like that person and wrote a poem about his/her life and importance. Upstairs we have many famous and iconic people including a pumpkin Jackie Robinson, Winnie-the-Pooh, and our very own - Mr. Gordon.

This afternoon second graders capped off their week with a Teaching Mass in the chapel. Over the last two weeks, students in first through sixth grades celebrated Teaching Masses with either Fr. Evans or Fr. Joseph to learn more about the parts of the Mass, its prayers and rituals, and how the congregation can actively participate. These Teaching Masses will help students participate at our next All School Mass which is scheduled for November 1st.

The Boston Fire Department's Aerial Drill team treated students to an amazing show this morning. They demonstrated various techniques, equipment and teamwork to show some of situations firefighters encounter. In addition, BFD members shared helpful tips as part of Fire Prevention Week. Don't be surprised if your kids are checking on your smoke detectors when they come home today. We are thankful for this opportunity to have the drill team visit. We appreciate everything BFD does for our community and we are thankful for the many ways they support our school including our upcoming Touch-a-Truck.

On Monday, HNPS had a special guest visit us for a tour and to observe some of our classes. Mr. Liam Beatty is the principal of St. Thomas School in Camp Hill, Australia. He enjoyed seeing our classrooms, especially hearing our kindergarten students rattle off as many "m" words at they could in a minute. Liam is here on a two-week visit to BC's Roche Center and is touring a few schools in the Archdiocese. We were happy to be among those schools and to welcome him to HNPS. As a thank you, he donated a book written by an Australian author to our library. In the future, we hope to find a way for our two schools to connect.