Spirit Week

By Karolina Mroczek [‘26]

The week of September 18-23 was a memorable one for the Our Lady of Lourdes community. We kicked off this year’s Spirit Week with a school favorite– Pajama Day. Students wore their coziest onesies, fuzzy pants, and robes. On Tuesday, September 19, students sported superhero capes and dressed up as their favorite villains. Wednesday was a memorable day as students twinned with each other and portrayed iconic duos. The following day, chaos arose in the hallways on Anything But a Backpack Day– shopping carts and suitcases filled the hallways while students switched classes.

Spirit Week reached its peak on Friday when OLL celebrated its official Spirit Day. Students wore colors based on their grade levels and showed their school spirit at a pep rally. Clubs set up stands throughout the schoolyard, selling a variety of snacks, drinks, and sweets. One of the most notable stands was run by the Tabletop Gaming Club, which offered an opportunity for students to compete in a Mario Kart tournament. However, this wasn’t the only competition on Friday– several games of tug of war and an egg toss took place throughout the morning. 

Homecoming Weekend

By Karolina Mroczek [‘26]

After a fun-filled day on Friday, September 23, students attended the yearly Homecoming Football Game. This year, the Lourdes Warriors played against the Washingtonville Wizards. The game was tied for all four quarters, until the Wizards made a sudden comeback in overtime; unfortunately, they won the game with a final score of 8-16.

Despite the loss, the Lourdes community came together the next evening to enjoy the annual Homecoming Dance. Students formed numerous dance circles, took pictures at a photo booth, and enjoyed various treats throughout the night. Plenty of cheers were heard during the dance, especially when this year’s Homecoming King and Queen were announced. Congratulations to Stephen Sume and Kathleen Tsoubris, who were voted as our Homecoming Royalty!

Blue and Gold Rush raffle

By Yara Marji [‘26]

Every year, Our Lady of Lourdes tries to financially support each and every student. In order to fix the gaps that tuition cannot pay for alone, Lourdes has a Blue and Gold Rush Raffle. This raffle usually takes place in October to pay off the funds that are needed to give the community a better education. It also gives the chance for someone in the community to get a chance at winning anything from an Apple Watch SE to $10,000 dollars. Overall, making it a very successful and fun opportunity for all!

How the Gold and Blue rush raffle works is every student is mailed 10 tickets. It is the students’ job to sell the tickets to their family, friends, or even buy one themselves. The tickets are $25 dollars each. The prizes that could be won were an Apple Watch SE, $400 Ticketmaster Gift Card, $1,500,  $3,000, and the grand prize of $10,000.  On October 20, 2023, Mrs. Vilardo and classmates were in charge of choosing the winners out of a lottery spinner. Mrs. Vilardo, the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes, was  assisted by Sheriff Kirk Imperati, seniors Zuri Diem and Jake Lowery, and Sophia Vilardo, who is Mrs. Vildaros' daughter. The tickets were pulled out during a live stream, with many people sitting on the edge of their seats.

The winners of this Blue and Gold rush raffle were:  Brian Kinahan, who won the Apple watch; Jo Ann Pound, who won the $400 Ticketmaster gift card; Nicole Gemmati, who won $1,500;  Dan Mackenzie, who won $3,000; and lastly, the grand winner Natasha Kean, who won $10,000. Congratulations to all, and thank you to everyone who bought a ticket making it such a great success.