By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 5/19/05)

Queen of Apostles School in Alexandria boasts a mere 180 families within its community, but their small force was honored recently with the Distinguished Home/School Association Award by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Department of Elementary Schools.

"We’re a small school with a lot of power," said Daniela Shumate, PTO president. "It’s a testimony to the dedication of the parents."

Shumate accepted the award at the NCEA Convention held in Philadelphia in March.

According to Shumate, Queen of Apostles was the only PTO in the diocese to submit an entry for the award.

"It’s quite an honor," she said, to be singled out by the national organization.

The award is named in memory of Maxine Blader Donohue, former executive director of the National Catholic School Parents Federation, and it recognizes all that parents do to support Catholic schools. The Queen of Apostles PTO was one of eight schools to win the award.

"Parents feel like it’s a family," said Pam LaRose, PTO co-vice president. "We have a very close community here."

According to Shumate, the PTO board met last fall and brainstormed projects to submit for the award. The criteria included having an ongoing program that could be revamped or expanded.

Queen of Apostles decided to focus on their multi-cultural and international events in a project entitled "Celebrating Heritage." For more than 20 years, the school has hosted an International Festival that incorporates the various ethnicities represented throughout the school.

"We have children here from 23 countries or cultures," said Principal Mary West. "The children are interested in everything."

The teachers use international themes in their classrooms to correspond with the festival events. Families prepare cultural food, and the classes perform songs in different languages. The school opens its doors to the community.

"We are unified through the school, community and parish," Shumate said, adding that it is gratifying to see families from different ethnicities mingling. Each nationality exhibits their pride, while at the same time celebrates being part of a larger community. They are "a community within a community," said West.

"PTO is a community building organization," said Shumate. "That’s what we do."

Along with the food, the music is an important part of the day.

"Music helps express the culture and what they’re about," said LaRose. According to West, by having the children learn songs in a different language, they are taking a step into that culture.

But the assignment from the NCEA award committee was to "take it up a notch," said Shumate, and the PTO was ready for the challenge. They decided to have another international night but focused on one nationality for the whole evening: Ethiopia.

The evening was a grand success. There was a slide show about Ethiopia as well as cultural food, music and dance. This first night inspired other groups to step forward and plan more multi-cultural events. A Filipino Festival is scheduled for May 20.

Along with the award-winning multi-cultural programs, the PTO also sponsors many other programs and events throughout the year including pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, family nights, field days, sports teams and seasonal activities — to name only a few. They hold one major fund raiser, a dinner and auction, and several other smaller fund raisers throughout the year. On a whole, the community outside the school is very supportive, said LaRose.

The PTO board and several key volunteers organize the events, said LaRose. According to West, everyone helps as best as they can.

"Every family participates in some volunteer activity throughout the year," said West.

"The dedication of the parents makes it all happen," said Shumate. "We hope to inspire other schools to do projects."

Thanks to the award, West believes parents are more aware of all the good things happening at Queen of Apostles. After winning this award, the PTO hopes to keep motivated for future endeavors, said Shumate. They started celebrating their 40th anniversary earlier this month with a spirit day and will continue celebrating into the new school year.