Mount Mercy Academy's guidance department and Alumnae Association recently sponsored a career day for the students.

Faculty professional development days are routine for most elementary and high schools, and provide the opportunity to refocus on aspects of a school's mission, gather in departmental cohorts, and develop or sharpen skills necessary for managing students.

Cardinal O'Hara High School will soon be saying, "Ni hao," to a lot more international students. The Tonawanda school has signed a deal with the Kent School of China that will bring up to 20 students a year from China to Western New York to learn in the Catholic tradition while preparing for college in America.

Trocaire College is holding its second annual Spring Soirée gala at the new Shea's on Seneca at 6 p.m. Friday, May 3, and will honor several deserving organizations and individuals in the process.

In an effort to expand strategic affiliations, D'Youville has joined NetVUE, the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, a nationwide network of colleges and universities designed to expand and deepen vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students. The initiative is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University is hosting a conference on "Franciscan Reform and the Abuse Crises in the Catholic Church" on April 12-13 in the Robert R. Jones Trustees Room in Doyle Hall.

D'Youville has been awarded a Steelcase Active Learning Center grant which will transform space at the intersection of D'Youville and Leonardo da Vinci High SchoolPS 212 into a living laboratory to support learning strategies that promote engagement, creativity, and collaboration, while helping researchers better understand processes of active learning.

As area Catholic schools embrace STREAM education, it's helping to transform perceptions about private religious education. One example occurred in January, as St. Mary School of Swormville placed third overall in the annual Future City Competition held at Mount St. Mary Academy in Kenmore.

STREAM integration at St. Mary's Elementary School is in its fourth year. "Through planning, organization, and professional development for our teachers, we now fully integrate STREAM in all classes every day," said Becky Hoag, coordinator for St. Mary's Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics program. In the classrooms, teachers engage students in project-based learning experiences which allow for cross-curricular integration of topics and themes to be learned.

As high school juniors and seniors grapple with college decisions, they may be surprised to find a promising career path is already in their hands in the games and apps they play for fun and rely on for everyday life.

A nationally-recognized advocate for racial justice, Sister Anita Price Baird, DHM, will share her insights with friends of the SSJ Sister Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence at the Center's 12th annual event on April 7. SS. Columba-Brigid Church, 75 Hickory St., Buffalo, will host the gathering at 3 p.m. A reception will follow in the parish hall.

A group of eight high school students held and examined a human brain as part of a Catholic Health MASH Camp. These daylong field trips to local hospitals introduce students to careers in the health care field.

Christ the King Seminary has announced the appointment of Brian Bajzek as a full-time faculty member. Bajzek is now assistant professor of Systematic Theology and director of Pre-Theology at the seminary.

Students at St. Benedict School in Eggertsville celebrated Catholic Schools Week in late January in a unique way. Nancy Grant's religion classes created beautiful quilts, weaving a collaboration of art, religion and math. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders each incorporated a different theme for their creations.

The mood was festive, hearts were joyful and the spirit of giving remained strong at the annual Gala 22:6 - A Celebration of Catholic Education, held Thursday, February 21st, at the Buffalo Convention Center.

For over a dozen years, come snow or shine, Camp Turner has provided a winter camp full of hikes, games and campfires. If the weather is right, snow forts are made, if not, hockey and crafts are still available.

LOCKPORT — Sam and Gerry Ward lived in Lockport most of their lives. Sam was the owner of Ward, Beals and McCarthy, an industrial distributor headquartered in Lockport until its sale in 1990. He and Gerry were always very generous with their time...

Leading national and international speakers and top creative minds working in theology and philosophy will again converge on Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23 for the 2019 International Conference for Collaborative Philosophy, Theology and Ministry.

Cardinal O'Hara High School suffered its worst disaster in its 58-year history the weekend of Feb. 9 when two pipes burst cascading water into the fine arts hallway damaging classrooms and offices.

About 85 parish volunteers, clergy and Catholic Charities' Appeal leadership team and staff attended a volunteer training workshop on Feb. 9 to help kick off the 2019 Appeal in support of Catholic Charities in Erie County.

DEPEW — Students at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School learned lessons about the spirit of giving, production, economics and sales. Each class was given $25 and challenged to use that money to create something that could be sold to make money for a charity chosen by the class.

Over the next five years, more than 1,000 children are expected to learn computer and engineering skills at Our Lady of Victory Elementary School. These skills will prepare students for careers that have not even been invented yet. This is thanks to the Susan E. Brvenik Foundation.

KENMORE — The halls of St. John the Baptist School are alive and buzzing with excitement as students, faculty and staff have jumped feet first into the Diocese of Buffalo's STREAM Education Initiative.

EGGERTSVILLE — St. Benedict School technology coordinator and pre-K through eighth-grade Technology teacher, Marcia Elliott, is enhancing her primary and intermediate grade coding program. She will be introducing coding robots Dash and Dot with the primary grades and Cue with her middle school students.

On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will host the 19th annual Gala 22:6 - A Celebration of Catholic Education. Since its inception in 2001, the dinner has provided more than $4 million in financial assistance to help students and their families who are most in need.

ORCHARD PARK — The students at Nativity of Our Lord School had a very busy in November. On Nov. 5, students gathered to pray for our nation. They said a rosary, dedicating each decade to a different government office.

St. Christopher School Media Lab program has been completely revamped and features the new learning platform "Google for Education."

Mount Mercy Academy's Women in Social Sciences Program has completed its first full year giving the students the opportunity to interact with three strong female role models.

As you enter our Maker Space at Immaculate Conception School, you are greeted by the technology room mascot Mip. Mip is a programmable robot that energizes the children from the moment they enter the room. This energy is important as the students begin engaging in various robotic projects such as assembling Hummingbird Robitic kits made out of circuit boards and craft materials, programming Legos to complete tasks or preparing newly purchased underwater Sea Perch robots for a test swim.

ORCHARD PARK — Teachers and parents will be offering tours of Nativity of Our Lord School and welcome all families interested in a proven Catholic education for their children. The open house takes place Sunday, Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Catholic Health has obtained $5.07 million from Community Partners of WNY to support the development of D'Youville College's Health Professions Hub. In October, leaders from the college and the health system announced plans to collaborate on the 50,000 square-foot clinical training center, which will create a unique and innovative learning environment for students, while offering families in the college's West Side neighborhood greater access to high quality primary care services.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY — Niagara University and Niagara County Community College announced a new partnership that will increase engagement and improve collaboration between the two colleges, creating a seamless continuum of learning and leadership that expands programming in keeping with the workforce, economic and entrepreneurial needs of the region.

As we continue this Christmas season and begin the calendar year, the faculty, staff and students of Christ the King Seminary would like to offer you a blessed season of hope and joyous New Year of encounters with the Lord. We also believe this start to the new year is the perfect opportunity to give you a brief description of seminary life today as compared to around 50 years ago, as well as offer you a glimpse into changes that will be forthcoming.

Girls at Nativity School, in Orchard Park are making headlines for a good cause, literally. These eighth-graders wrote, designed and printed their own newspaper to raise money for the children at Mother Teresa Home in Buffalo.

The Upon This Rock committee presented its first emergency grant to Assumption Parish in, appropriately enough, Black Rock. The $20,000 grant will go to replacing a much-needed furnace used by the century-old church and the adjacent Our Lady of Black Rock School.

Sister M. Johnice Rzadkiewicz CSSF, executive director of the Response to Love Center came to Notre Dame Academy on Wednesday, Jan. 9 to accept a donation from the fourth-grade class.

ST. BONAVENTURE — St. Bonaventure University has signed an agreement with D'Youville College in Buffalo that will allow graduates of SBU's master's degree program in Educational Leadership to get a head start on D'Youville's doctoral program.

A once in a lifetime trip to Zambia for local girls turned into the beginning of a new life for girls in the south central African nation. Along with making new friends on the mission trip, the Sacred Heart students provided the gift of education for the African students in the form of four years of tuition.

The 19th annual Catholic education dinner - GALA 22:6 - will be held Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Proceeds from the dinner will be used to fund needs-based tuition assistance for students attending Catholic elementary schools throughout the eight counties of Western New York. The 2018 dinner raised $353,708 resulting in 295 scholarships created.

Three students at Mount St. Mary Academy have used their talents to help those afflicted with Alzheimer's. They created a cognitive coloring book to help draw back memories. Actually, they created more than a product. They created an entire business.