‘We want girls to be a light unto each other’

At the end of June last year, when Raymond Saborio took over as principal of Sacred Heart High School, it’s safe to say he faced a few challenges.

In Montebello: Celebrating St. Pedro Calungsod

Catechist, Missionary, Martyr, and Soldier of Christ have been titles associated with the noble deeds of St. Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino to be declared a saint by the Church.

First-grade lessons on life and God’s love at St. Agnes

A time of transition from the unhurried, serene play days of pre-school and kindergarten to be with the big kids in elementary school. In today’s supercharged academic world, there’s not only educational and life lessons to be mastered in class, but also the daunting task of take-home assignments. Yes, real honest-to-God homework.

On a warm June 18 morning — the next-to-last day on the 2013-14 school calendar — The Tidings paid a visit to St. Agnes School at the corner of Vermont and Adams in the City of the Angels to ask some real life cherubs the basic query: What did you learn in first grade?

Challenges: Faith, support, determination in Pasadena

New high school graduate Sharon Le Berthon of Temple City is a young lady who knows first-hand about the power of prayer and what it’s like to be part of a community that cares.

Despite numerous health setbacks from her cystic fibrosis (CF), 18-year-old Sharon graduated this month from St. Monica Academy in Pasadena and credits the support and faith of her classmates and teachers along with her family to help her succeed.

Challenges: Nearly deported, newly graduated from Loyola

Education, education, education. That is what Enrique and his sister always heard from their undocumented Mexican parents. Florian and Beatriz toiled daily to support their Los Angeles-born children, sending them to St. Cecilia School and petitioning for years to be legal residents.

When Enrique was in the eighth grade and in the top three of his class, a judge ruled that the family be deported. During the proceedings, the judge learned that Enrique had been accepted to Loyola High School. The judge reversed his deportation ruling, saying how fortunate Enrique was to be admitted to Loyola and that it could change Enrique’s life.

Challenges: Twin success, centered in faith at St. Joseph

Life has not always been easy for the Castellanos brothers. Sometimes it even seemed downright impossible. No matter what life threw their way, however, perseverance and tenacity ruled the day.

Raised only by their father, Quentin, from the time they were one week old, twins Joaquin and Joseph have worked hard for everything they have, including their Catholic education. On May 25, they graduated from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, each with high grade point averages, multiple athletic honors and an extensive involvement in school and service organizations.

Martha Elena Bautista: ‘I’m very blessed’

Martha Elena Bautista wasn’t wearing a royal blue cap and gown like the 28 eighth-grade graduates inside St. Columbkille Church in the late afternoon of June 18. Instead, she wore a green-patterned, sleeveless blouse and navy skirt with dark stockings.

But when the 29-year-old mother received her GED high school-equivalency diploma, members of the packed-together congregation in the narrow church clapped as loud and long as they did for each of the 16 girls and 12 boys at the Los Angeles parochial school on West 64th Street. And when she walked out with the Class of 2014, trying not to smile too broadly, they clapped even harder.