Virtual Vacation Bible School

RANDOLPH  Immediately, Collette O’Shaughnessy, a second-grader, recognized “Mrs. Scandariato” right through the silly costume that she wore in a video for the first day of virtual Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Resurrection Parish here.

Wearing a light-blue wig and a white lab coat, Lorraine Scandariato, director of Children’s Ministry (K–5) at Resurrection, and two other VBS co-directors held up and showed the camera an example of Links of Love, a prayer chain that “campers” make out of loops of construction paper each summer for the program. At first disappointed that VBS could not meet at Resurrection due to precautions because of COVID-19, O’Shaughnessy nevertheless was thrilled to participate at home with her mother, Jeanine, in the parish’s first virtual version of the program. It consisted of three hour-long videos filled with stories of the Bible and saints; singing and dancing to faith-based songs, games and craft and snack ideas.

“I loved coloring pages of Mary and the saints and making the mobile with the Cross and [a link made of construction paper for] the prayer chain. I loved singing and dancing. It was fun,” said Collette O’Shaughnessy. Campers used take-home kits that the VBS leaders assembled with instructions and some materials for the crafts projects and recipes for the snacks. “I learned that Jesus had the power to walk on water. I learned to trust Jesus,” she said.

O’Shaughnessy was among 50 campers, K–5, who watched three hour-long videos on YouTube, created by an artful team of VBS adult leaders. All of these activities explored the VBS’s theme of “Power Lab” and its lesson that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, helpful and brave — topics that were “very timely as we were able to integrate the current pandemic into the day’s activities.” Campers made links for a Links of Love prayer chain for an end of the virus and for all the healthcare and essential workers, Scandariato said.

“This year’s virtual VBS kept campers and their families connected to their parish community as much as possible,” said Scandariato. “We wanted the kids to learn about the love of God and about how to share that love and be a role model,” she said.

For this year’s VBS, a team of 12 adult leaders dusted off a program that Resurrection presented 12 years ago, “Power Lab” by Group Publishing. They took three weeks in July to re-write the scripts and put together costumes and sets from a storage area for props at the parish. Emma Baxter, a team member and dramatic writing major at New York University, filmed segments of the video in a classroom here, said April Tomaino, a VBS co-director.

In the video, one set is made up like a lab complete with test tubes, foaming potions and bubbling sounds. The actors were dressed in white lab coats and wigs. The team interspersed their taped segments with videos from the Group Publishing materials and from YouTube.

The virtual campers learned about the power to be thankful through the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers, the power to be helpful through the story of Jesus curing the blind man and the power to be brave through the story of Peter walking on the water. They learned about how to use these powers through the example of St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Josemaria Escriva, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Venerable Father Augustine Tolton, Scandariato said.

“It was fun to listen to the songs after so many years,” said Tomaino, who helped bring VBS to Resurrection 17 years ago. The program usually attracts 150 campers. “This year, it was weird to perform in front of a camera. The kids gave us a lot of energy live. But we had fun engaging with the other actors on set,” she said.

At the O’Shaughnessy house, Collette enjoyed writing prayers and inspirational sayings — such as “God loves you” and “You got this” — on her link of prayer chain, which will be assembled with the other links and displayed in the church and the parish website.

At the Fitzpatrick house, Jake, 6, and Luke, 4, watched with their mother, Teri, and their grandparents and enjoyed the faith-based cartoons. She called the program a “nice variety of things to keep them interested and to get parents more involved.”

An enthusiastic Luke Fitzpatrick told The Beacon that he enjoyed making happy-face waffles with chocolate syrup, marshmallows and Skittles — a craft to express their joy about the power to feel thankful.

“It was fun. I learned about Jesus putting mud on a man’s face and making him see again and about Jesus curing the lepers,” he said.

This year, virtual VBS helped “connect Catholics at Resurrection with the Church,” said Father John Tarantino, pastor.

“It’s natural for them to be here [in the church for VBS] but the world has been turned upside down. This gave them something to look forward to with the adult leaders and the songs, skits and dancing. They made it as normal as possible,” Father Tarantino said.