Fr. Patrick Gonyeau speaks with Notre Dame students during “Community Read Day” on January 25.
Each year, students in Notre Dame’s middle division read a book together on a day designated as “Community Read Day.” The book chosen for this year was “The Outsiders,” a coming-of-age novel written by S.E. Hinton and published in 1967.
According to middle division IB MYP Coordinator Brenda Kambakhsh who helped plan this year’s read day, the book was chosen to tie in with the school’s themes in Scheduled Release Time (SRT), during which students have been focusing on character, values, morals and being true to oneself.
“The Outsiders,” a coming-of-age novel written by S.E. Hinton and published in 1967, played an integral role in Notre Dame’s middle division Community Read Day.
Throughout January, all teachers in various subject areas in the middle division shared in the effort to read and discuss the book. The month’s activities finally culminated with a number of events on Friday, January 25, beginning with a session with Fr. Patrick Gonyeau, a young and inspirational priest from Royal Oak’s National Shrine of the Little Flower parish, who covered topics ranging from God’s plan for vocations to the importance of character and honor and living up to what it means to be a Christian.
“Father wrapped up his discussion by asking the students to love others and to ask for God’s help along life’s path,” Kambakhsh said.
A student who attended Gonyeau’s talk said the Royal Oak priest really opened up his mind and heart. “He inspired me to be myself and he showed me my real identity and made me realize that God does have a big plan for me.”
Another student said Gonyeau’s presentation was amazing. “He made us picture Jesus and I thought that was really cool because it made me think Jesus is really always there for me. I also loved his stories.”
After Gonyea concluded his talk, students broke off into smaller groups in order to reflect on his message and to think about ways they themselves have been stereotyped. The kids then performed skits about their experiences and talked about ways to avoid stereotyping and how to step in when others are being mistreated.
Based on the two main subject groups in The Outsiders, the skits featured students dressed as either a Soc (“Social”) or Greaser, who competed in relay games.
“The games were weighted so that the Greasers had more difficulty winning,” said Kambakhsh. “These activities were designed to help students gain an understanding of the challenges and conflicts that come up between different social groups.”
Lastly, Kambakhsh said, all students viewed the movie, The Outsiders, "complete with popcorn!"
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.