St. Helen, like most of the other 19 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Austin, has a Mass Buddy program, which serves as a way to form faith leaders by allowing older students to serve as role models and guide younger students during Mass, ultimately supporting all students’ growth and engagement in the Mass.

St. Helen takes the program a bit further though, said the school’s principal Mary Kay Sims.

“Our Mass Buddy program is a part of a much bigger picture,” she said. “Through our House System, students are given opportunities to build relationships across grades in many areas. Our students have so much to learn from each other both in Mass and in other aspects of life.”

Through the school’s unique House System, every grade level is divided into six “Houses.” The objective behind the system is that these teams connect and bond through many activities throughout the school year, including during Masses, lunches, meetings and assemblies. Each of the six Houses is named for a saint and has its own House colors, virtues and coat-of-arms.

“We call them Houses because we are a family here at St. Helen,” Sims said. “The Houses are part of what we are as a Catholic school and are truly just who we are.”

She said the school is blessed to have on staff three Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Much of the House program is modeled after their Disciple of Christ Education in Virtue curriculum, which guides students to cultivate moral principles and live a life of holiness, emphasizing the importance of virtues and character development. The ultimate goal is to help students develop habits that lead to true happiness and moral integrity.

Each House studies the virtues daily with the focus of helping each other live those qualities every day. Throughout the year, students earn virtue tickets and a points board tallies up the tickets throughout the year with awards given at year end. Sims said the program helps establish a sense of connection across all age groups.

“The whole school community gets behind the House system. Parents and students track points, wear House colors, and really get into all the various activities,” Sims said. “On House sorting day the excitement was all over campus as students welcomed new members to their Houses.”

St. Helen has been pairing older students with younger ones since it opened its doors in 2002. The House System was created to enhance the Mass Buddy program in 2017. Since then, the school has seen increased mentorship among the students, the building of friendships across grade levels and how younger students are growing in confidence and understanding of the Catholic faith. Even more significant is that the school is solidly becoming one family united in Christ, Sims said.

“Our young ones need to see proper, respectful, reverent behaviors modeled by fellow students while older students are given the chance to serve as leaders,” she said. “They examine their own behaviors and then work to help their buddies know what to do. Attending Mass is a joy especially when the older students are helping guide the younger ones. It’s a valuable lesson for our older kids to learn that they are someone who can be looked up to.”

Those older children agree: eighth-grader Benedict said, “I like being able to connect to kids and teach them;” seventh-grader Sofia added, “I really like being the person my buddy can come to for help;” and seventh-grader Kelsi agreed saying, “I like that everyone has a buddy to help them.”

This fall students have introduced their new pastor, Father Jonathan Raia, and associate pastor, Father Isaiah Minke, to the House System as well.

With all grade levels involved in addition to priests and families, St. Helen’s House System is proving not only educational but inspirational.

For more information

about St. Helen Catholic School, visit www.shcslions.org. For information about the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Austin, visit www.csdatx.org.