‘Faith Family Dining Days’ sparks unity

A new event being held monthly at St. Joseph Catholic School in Farmington is  promoting VBRD (Virtue Based Restorative Discipline).

The first Faith Family Dining Days was held last month at the school.

“The whole student body is distributed equally in the beginning of the year into Faith Families,” said fourth grade teacher Mandy Whitener. “Each teacher takes on a virtue for their Faith Family.”

According to Whitener, the Faith Family consists of a mixture of kindergartners through eighth graders.

“So, in one family you have about 15 students,” she said. “Once a month we highlight one virtue word for the entire month from one of the faith families. For lunch on the faith family days we set up tables in the gym where we can eat with our family.

“During the lunch we eat family style with bowls of food in the center ready to be passed around. The kids learn table etiquette and engage in meaningful conversations. Mr. Werner cooked the meal with other parent volunteers. The meal consisted of noodles, red sauce, salad, bread sticks, and cookies.”

The first Faith Family Day kicked off with church at 8 a.m. where the students sat with their “family” rather than by grade level. At noon they met with their family for lunch.

”The food was amazing and it was a great way to interact with our virtue houses and get to know each other even more,” said Clare, a fifth grader.

“It was great because Mr. Werner makes the best spaghetti I’ve ever tasted!” said Luke, a second grader.