Live animals stole the show at St. Patrick’s Living Nativity presentation

Students at the St. Patrick Catholic Academy squealed in delight at the sight of a donkey.

The donkey, along with a sheep and alpaca, was part of the students’ reenactment of the birth of Jesus at the Living Nativity presentation celebrating the Christmas season on Friday, December 2.

Quiver Farm, a Pennsylvania-based farm which gives informational farming presentations at numerous schools and organizations, supplied the animals for the event. The presentation began at 10 a.m. in the school’s Aldo Bruschi Auditorium.

Principal Kathleen Curatolo of St. Patrick Catholic Academy said while she had done the Living Nativity presentation at another school before, it was the first time for St. Patrick’s.

“I liked the enthusiasm of the kids… they’ve never seen it before, so it was hard to contain them,” she said.

Eighth grader Valerie Rosanelli said it was really cool to see all the animals. She added that it would’ve been fun to perform, too.

However, the performers belonged to the lower grades because the costumes were too small for the older kids. In addition, they had to improvise on the spot.

Gianna Veneziano, an eighth grader at the school, said both the kids and the animals were really cute.

Meanwhile, student Destiny Sauveur, also in the eighth grade, said she really liked the presentation and thought it was exciting.

“I got nervous when I saw the animals walking by,” Destiny said. “I got scared when I went up to pet the alpaca because it started moving.”

The presentation is part of a program the school started this year, according to Curatolo.

“We’ll be doing things like this throughout the year because these are the things the kids will remember,” she said.

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