The hallways of St. Brendan School in North Olmsted are filled with creations of students in the school.
The artwork, which represents the efforts of Pre-K through eighth graders, was prepared for the annual Gallery Walk on May 16. After morning Mass, parishioners, parents and other guests were invited to tour the “gallery” to admire the students’ work.
Julie Onacila, school principal, said guests were impressed by the quality of work the students created under the guidance of Katie Molseed, art teacher and a St. Brendan parent.
One special guest, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost, said he enjoyed seeing the artwork. He stopped in a few classrooms to visit with students and teachers and to see what they were learning. In a junior high history class, teacher Frank O’Grady was teaching them about St. Brendan, patron saint of the parish and school.
The bishop also stopped in to greet eighth graders, who are wrapping up their time at St. Brendan. The class is scheduled to graduate on May 29.
Accompanying the bishop was his executive assistant, Judy Liederbach, an alumna of St. Brendan School. Liederbach said she was glad to have the opportunity to tour her old stomping ground and to reminisce about her years at St. Brendan’s.
Vincent DeLuca, head of school, and Father Tom Woost, the bishop’s younger brother and St. Brendan pastor, also accompanied the group.
In one hallway, Onacila pointed out “stained-glass windows” crafted by one class. The “windows” were actually shields the school had left over from the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago. She said they had not been used and were in storage when Molseed got the idea to use them for an art project. Students selected a saint to feature on their “window” and they were displayed on a table off the main hallway.
Above the window display was St. Brendan’s version of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by legendary artist Michaelangelo. But this version featured the creations of kindergarteners and first graders, who painted like Michaelangelo – on their backs – as they worked on their panels for the ceiling. The project was a natural for St. Brendan, which adopted a Catholic classical education model.
Oncila and DeLuca said when the conclave convened to select a new pope earlier this month, Molseed pivoted and decided to adapt the children’s art lesson to the Sistine Chapel. The bishop, Father Woost and others walked underneath the “paintings,” which were suspended from the ceiling.
They also saw banners sewn by members of the school sewing club, displays of shields created by students, boats fashioned from French fry containers, Jesus “puzzles,” Marian shrines and books of famous people with connections to St. Brendan. Onacila pointed out that Bishop Woost was among those featured in the books.
After the school tour and Gallery Walk, the bishop and guests enjoyed lunch with parish staff. An Ice Cream with the Bishop event, which was a special-event fundraiser offered during the school’s #WeGiveCatholic day of online giving, closed out the visit. Bishop Woost, Father Woost and Onacila helped students make ice cream sundaes which they ate with their guests.
