From Sharon Cassidy
January 2008, St. Raphael's Catholic Church

Good Morning! I am Sharon Cassidy and my husband, Mike, and I have had the pleasure to work as partners with St. Raphael's School in educating our four children. We have been at St. Raphael School since 1992. Our four children have attended St. Raphael School from Kindergarten through their 8th grade graduation. Our youngest will graduate this spring.

We as parents are our children's first teachers. It has been a tremendous experience for us to have our children continue the Catholic faith teachings and values we began at home in their daily lives while here at St. Raphael's School. To instill in our children the importance of daily prayer before the students begin their work for the day. To show respect for all people, born and unborn. To show respect for people's belonging,s property and what is the right thing to do. The middle school students are encouraged to take a leadership role in how they will live their faith as adults.

The school staff provides role models as how to live their faith as adults. The teachers have helped each of our four children in discovering their learning style, good study habits, and exciting them about learning which I hope will continue throughout their lives. The academic curriculum is vigorous and the classes are small enough so the teacher are able to provide the support each of our children have needed. They all have different learning styles. Our children have been prepared to achieve well into high school and college.

St. Raphael School has shown our children how to live their faith in community service. by raking leaves during the school's yearly rake-a-thon, spending time at St. Therese Home working with the elderly in our community, collecting food for the local food shelves, helping with needs in our parish and working at Feed My Starving Children to package food for our global community.

St. Raphael School has been a fun part of our lives also with all the sporting events available, concerts, and the school play. It has been a pleasure getting to know and work with other parents who support the values our family cherishes. St. Raphael School has prepared a solid education foundation for our children to earn a living but also it has helped us build a founding in how our children live their lives.