As you celebrate this week, we are excited to share ready-to-use resources to help you do just that! Below, you’ll find activities for students of all ages to foster friendships rooted in faith, gratitude, and love for their communities.
At Friendzy, we are deeply grateful for you and the faithful, day-to-day work nurturing disciples of Christ who are growing socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Catholic Schools Week is a meaningful opportunity to pause, celebrate, and give thanks for the many ways God is at work in your classrooms and hallways.
Looking back can be a powerful way to move forward with intention. This past year was especially meaningful for the Catholic Church as we journeyed through the Ordinary Jubilee Year of 2025–a Holy Year centered on hope, renewal, and walking together in faith. That spirit invites us to reflect with gratitude and recommit ourselves to the shared work God has placed before us. Fittingly, this year’s Catholic Schools Week theme, “United in Faith and Community,” beautifully echoes that call.
To help you celebrate this special week, we’ve gathered ready-to-use Friendzy resources to make participation easy and fun! The activities below are designed for students of all ages and intentionally support community, empathy, and friendship, while lifting up what makes your Catholic school community so special.
Use these discussion prompts to help students reflect on how faith and community shape the way we love, learn, and grow together.
Early Childhood
Choose 2–3 questions to discuss during circle time or pair with the drawing response page.
How can we help our classroom feel like a caring community?
What does it look like to be kind and loving like Jesus at school?
How can we show God’s love to our friends today?
Grades K–5
Use these prompts for whole-group discussion or journaling. Responses may be written or drawn, depending on students’ abilities.
How can you help someone feel included at school?
How does listening help us grow stronger as a community?
How do our words and actions show that we are united in faith?
How can we praise God by caring for others in our school community?
Middle School
Use these prompts for group discussion or written reflection.
Why is community important in living out our faith?
How can your words and actions help unite your school community?
What does it look like to stand up for others as followers of Christ?
How can choosing empathy help our school reflect God’s love?
High School
Use these prompts for small-group dialogue or journaling.
How does being united in faith shape the way you treat others each day?
How can friendship strengthen a faith-filled community, especially during challenges?
How do small, faithful choices help build a stronger school community?
How can you live out Christ’s love in ways that bring others together?
Challenge your students to complete acts of kindness this week.
Early Ed: Using the provided tic-tac-toe board, students will work to get three in a row by completing various acts of kindness this week. This can be done as a whole class, individually, or sent home for a home-school connection.
K-5: Using either the provided tic-tac-toe or BINGO board, students will complete a row by doing various acts of kindness. Send it home for students to complete and return!
Middle School: Using the provided BINGO board, students will complete various acts of kindness throughout the week, with the goal of getting five in a row! For a home-school connection, send the sheets home for students to complete and return.
High School: Using the provided reflection page, challenge students to complete five acts of kindness this week and to write a reflection about each one.
Work together as a Catholic school to create a visual expression of our shared faith, prayer, hope, and the ways we live out our faith together in community.
Early Childhood + Grades K–5
Using a large sheet of paper or butcher paper, students create drawings, photos and other artifacts that represent how we live our Catholic faith each day—praying together, attending Mass, showing kindness, helping those in need, caring for God’s creation, and thanking God for His many blessings. Display the banner in a shared space as a reminder that we belong to one faith-filled community.
Bonus: Create musical shakers (directions included!) and parade through the building with songs or prayers of praise, joyfully celebrating our shared Catholic faith.
Middle School
Students design banner sections that reflect faith, prayer, and hope lived out in community—through the Sacraments, service, worship, and care for others. Students include Scripture, Psalms of praise, or prayers that express unity, gratitude, and trust in God.
Bonus: Write an original poem, hymn, or prayer
High School
Students plan and create banner sections that incorporate symbols, Scripture, prayer, and written reflections that express what it means to live out our faith in your school community. Students may take on leadership roles in design, coordination, and presentation to ensure the final display reflects unity and reverence. These can also be done in digital or multi-media formats that engage students and can be shared with the rest of the school community.
For a school-wide celebration:
Host a school-wide assembly and allow each class or grade level to share their “community” project and combine them for display as an expression of devotion, highlighting how every member plays a role in building a faith-filled community.
Bonus: Invite families, potential families, parishioners, and clergy to join this celebration, if possible use some of the fruits of this work in your CSW Mass highlighting student written hymns and prayers.
Julie has been an educator in both public and private school settings for more than twenty years. Her experience includes roles as a classroom teacher, interventionist, instructional coach, curriculum and staff development director, Director of Catholic Schools, and education consultant. She is a passionate advocate for educational access and believes all children deserve well-prepared, joy-filled teachers who are committed to discovering and nurturing every student’s unique gifts and talents. The ethics of care, the study of belonging, and her deep Catholic faith guide her work and research interests.
Julie remains a Friend of Friendzy and currently serves Friendzy as a consultant, supporting the mission and partnering with schools across the country. She previously served as a National Partnership Director for Friendzy, focusing on business growth and the development of meaningful school partnerships. Recently, she has accepted a new role serving her local community, where she continues her commitment to children, families, and educators.
Julie lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, two sons, and their beloved pets. As a family, they love to travel and explore new places together.
