The 6th grade spent today working at Rose's Bounty packing food and helping load bundles for the drive thru food pantry. When I visited, I was impressed to see how much they had accomplished and to see students working diligently and with smiles on their faces. Their work helped feed 258 families. Thank you to Mrs. Beatrice, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Reilly, and our parent volunteers for both chaperoning and working alongside the students. Thank to everyone who has supported our Food Drive. Donations can be made through next week. These donations will be brought to Rose's Bounty in support of their Backpack Program.

As we end this week, we have some sad news to share. Ed Petersen, affectionately known as "Mr. Ed," passed away after a long illness. Ed joined the Holy Name staff in 2006 and assisted with drop-off at the Early Childhood Center initially. For the following 16 years, Ed also assisted with recess supervision and helped with projects around the school increasing his daily time at the school until his retirement in 2022. Holy Name and the students brought him great joy. He was often in the stands at Little League games to see HNPS students play. Ed's family will hold a private funeral service and a memorial mass will be held at a later date. We will share information about the mass once it is available. We are grateful for the time Ed shared with our school community and offer his family our deepest condolences.

Coach Mazzulla always finds time for the Rosary. That time might be when he first arrives at TD Garden or before he goes to bed. He keeps his Rosary beads in his pocket at all times, however, in case he needs to divide his prayer up - saying one decade before practice begins and another on his way to pick up his kids and so on until he completes it. It was an honor to have Coach Mazzulla join us on Tuesday as we prayed the Rosary as a school community. He discussed his affinity for saying the Rosary and his experience praying it as a child. At the end, he stayed with us for a Q&A with students and answered questions about his own career, coaching experience, and his faith. It was inspirational for the students to hear a public figure discuss his faith. Despite their pleading, he would not name his favorite Celtics player, however. Thank you to Mrs. Buckley for inviting Coach Mazzulla and coordinating his virtual visit.