May 23, 2025 // Diocese
‘Saints in the Making’ at Huntington Catholic School
OSV Sponsors Day of Faith, Fun for Local Students
Huntington Catholic School fifth-grade teacher Amy Ball has been thinking about an all-school retreat focused on religion for years, since before COVID. On Friday, May 16, it finally happened thanks to collaboration between the teachers and administrators, pastors of the school (Father Tony Steinacker and Father Thomas Zehr), and Kathy Skelly and Jill Adamson at Our Sunday Visitor.
“I just kept thinking about it and thinking about it,” Ball told Today’s Catholic. “I reached out to Father Tony, and he was on board. I then met with Father Thomas, and he said that he had been thinking about ways to do more with religion in our school and really focus on faith. Now, we are here today at a retreat focused on saints in the making.”
Photos by Nicole Hahn
Madalyn Feit, a kindergarten student at Huntington Catholic School, smiles as she shows the stained-glass window she made during craft-time of an all-school retreat day at St. Felix Catholic Center in Huntington on Friday, May 16.
Adamson, director of special projects at OSV, said they were thrilled when Huntington Catholic staff members reached out to them. “They asked if we would like to be a part of their first-ever retreat day, and it has been an honor for us to be a sponsor and share in such a spirit-filled day.”
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade lined up at school first thing in the morning dressed in special shirts with a monstrance on the front, “HC” on the arm, and a quote from St. Paschal Baylon on the back, which read, “God is really present in the consecrated Host as He is in the glory of Heaven.”
The students, teachers, principal, priests, and volunteers then walked to St. Felix Catholic Center and began their day with Mass, adoration, and reconciliation in the chapel. Students then broke out into groups to take part in age-appropriate activities, including making prayer books and journals, rosary bracelets, and stained-glass windows using construction paper.
Father Thomas Zehr, pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntington, gives instruction to Huntington Catholic School students just before Benediction during an Our Sunday Visitor-sponsored all-school retreat day at St. Felix.
“The spiritual retreat was a great way for the students and staff to step away from the daily routine of school life and focus on their Catholic faith,” Adamson said. “It was such a joy to hear all of the excitement from the students.”
Before lunch, everyone went back into the chapel for Benediction. Suzanne Mickley, volunteer and parent of Huntington Catholic student Elin Mickley, was grateful the kids got to spend this day focused on religion. “The kids got to watch Father Thomas do the Benediction, and I don’t think they have ever seen that before,” Mickley said. “It is such a great day. It is so important because I feel like our kids, they need to know Catholic identity, period.”
The beautiful sunshine and warm weather allowed for an outside lunch that included live Christian music by Jake Eisenhauer. Students and teachers danced and sang along to the music, enjoying the day and being together as a school.
“We’re doing this retreat, and it’s just about kids being united together to learn about spreading the word of God and talking about how we could become saints someday,” said Elin Mickley, an eighth-grader. “We’re having fun and learning,” she added.
Remington Baker, a second-grade student at Huntington Catholic School, kneels in preparation for Benediction during an Our Sunday Visitor-sponsored retreat day at St. Felix Catholic Center in Huntington on Friday, May 16.
After lunch, everyone gathered in the chapel to hear from a very special speaker.
“Staff members at Huntington Catholic wanted an OSV author to speak to the children about sainthood since the retreat theme was “A Saint in the Making,” said Adamson. “We selected and sponsored Colleen Pressprich, who has written nine books with OSV for children and families.”
The day concluded with everyone gathering in the grotto for final prayers and the recitation of the Rosary, led by the eighth-grade class.
“It’s just an absolutely beautiful day,” Ball said. “I’m loving it, and we are getting great responses. It’s great to see the students having fun and enjoying each other while focusing on their faith.”
The group walked together back to school to find a very nice surprise.
“The OSV team assembled a gift bag for each student, family volunteer, staff member, and faculty member,” Adamson said. “Each student received an age-specific OSV book they could read in the future and remember this beautiful faith-filled day.”
Adamson told Today’s Catholic that OSV has a division that focuses on supporting activities like retreats for local Catholic schools with the goal of getting faith-based materials into the hands of children and families.
“This opportunity is open to any Catholic school,” she said. “School leaders who would like more information about this opportunity can reach out to our OSV Annual Fund Leader, Kathy Skelly, at [email protected].”
In addition, Adamson said that anyone who would like to support the initiative so OSV can continue to provide these Catholic resources to schools can go to osv.com/ministysupport to make a donation.
Nicole Hahn is Secretary of Communications for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
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