Good evening, my name is Christine Montano Carey; I have been a member of Santa Maria since its inception.  Tonight, I am here to share an experience I recently had at Santo Niño School.  I was recently asked to paint four angels, one at each grade pod at Santo Niño.  For approximately the last two weeks, I was given the blessing to, in a sense, be a fly on the wall and observe the daily activities for the school.  Standing above their heads and quietly working on the angels, I witnessed the interactions between the children and the children, between the children and the teachers and between teachers and teachers.  What I saw was, those children are lead and taught with love and respect.  The teachers clearly have control over the students and they behave themselves in such a pleasant manner. They are respectful and polite and pleasant to be around.  And Yet – they are happy.  They laugh and giggle and joke but stand at attention when called upon to do so.  I overheard the teachers talking to one another, discussing ho to approach a problem or work with a student to his or her betterment.  Need I mention the statistics on the Catholic School education verses the public schools and the percentage of its students that are college bound. 

I listened with great delight to some of the after school programs, the guitar ensemble with the children playing guitars and singing so impressively, while others were playing the marimba and then the wonderful at least 75 or so strong choir.  What a joy it was to hear these glorious sounds. 

And speaking of teachers, the dedication and love I saw was only overshadowed by their principle, Ms. Teri Viasa.  What a treasure the school has in her. 

I wish everyone with children, grandchildren, nieces; nephews could have the some experience I just had, being there from early morning till long after school let out.  Santo Niño Regional should be the roll model for what all schools should be.  I urge anyone who values the future of their child’ education and their overall development as a Christian and the future of our country, to seriously look into enrollment there.  There are also scholarships available, which is even more important in these trying times.  I should  mention that I have two of my grandchildren enrolled there and they love it. 

There will be an open house on the 22^nd of January.  Thank you for allowing me this time for this testimony. 

I would now like to introduce my daughter Terrie Ulm, who is one of the kindergarten teachers at Santo Niño.  She will give you more information about open house.