Gulf Pine Catholic

16 Gulf Pine Catholic • May 24, 2024 On Saturday, April 27, Nativity BVM Catholic School hosted its annual Sister Mary Jo Memorial Fun Run. This year, the school incorporated a new fitness challenge, Battle Before the Boil , into the event. In partnership with Core Strong Living and Biloxi Bicycle Works , participants took part in a number of fitness challenges designed by Core Strong Owner Richard Hawthorne. Biloxi Bicycle Works was on hand to help time the events and the race. Following the fitness challenge and one-mile fun run, students, families and friends were invited to enjoy crawfish on the lawn. This is an annual event founded in honor of Sister Mary Jo, Nativity's previous principal. After her passing, a memorial scholarship was established in her honor and proceeds from this fundraiser directly support the scholarships mission. Event chair and current Nativity NPA President, Devyn Quinn, was excited about the evolution of this event. What began six years ago as a 5K run and fun run, has grown into a family event where teams competed for first, second and third places. Quinn’s goal was realized when siblings and parents were competing in friendly competition. A big part of the event this year was community involvement and the local community definitely showed out! Many local businesses and organizations sponsored, donated goods or directly participated in this year's event. Annual Sister Mary Jo Memorial Fun Run and Battle Before the Boil Fitness Competition N ativity BVM C athedral S chool , B iloxi On Tuesday, April 9, over thirty students from Nativity BVM Schools EXPLORE program partici- pated in Downtown Nativity. This was the culmina- tion of a yearlong project under the instruction of EXPLORE teacher Zina Puzz. Students were chal- lenged to come up with their very own plans to develop a fully functional building from the ground up. Product, sales, packaging and marketing where all important aspects of this project, while students did their best to prepare for their big debut. Each student designed their very own “Business Truck” as the focal point of their enterprise and these trucks, along with their products were on full display in the Nativity gym. Students, faculty, family and friends were invited to shop for a range of items to include pet rocks, stress jars, smoothies, art kits, candy and much more. Project success was determined by a student’s ability to make a profit at the end of the event. Third year EXPLORE student, Wade Byers, was happy about the excitement surrounding his business, Palm Island Snoballs. Byers loves snoballs and thought it would be fun to mix them with some of his favorite candies such as Nerds, gummy bears and sour worms. Snoballs are always a big hit, but Byers was excited to see the different flavor combi- nations that his customers had in mind. At the end of the event, Puzz calculated that in total, her EXPLORE students profited almost $1,400 from their event and each student was able to keep what they earned. An anonymous donor offered to match the total profit and donate this amount back to the EXPLORE pro- gram for them to give to a charity of their choice. It was truly an exciting day for Nativity School and we can’t wait to see what these entrepreneurs have in store for next year! Thank you to everyone who came out and supported this wonderful event! EXPLORE students prepare to sell their items at Downtown Nativity. Wade Byers and his business, Palm Island Snoballs, are ready for business! Downtown Nativity is open for business! Left, Father Godfrey Andoh poses with race participants following the opening prayer. Right, Richard Hawthorne helps with the dead lift relay.