NATCHEZ — The children of Holy Family Catholic School unexpectedly burst into song late Friday morning on the final day of Catholic Schools Week.

They were singing “This Little Light of Mine,” a song that a retired Holy Family pre-school teacher, Joyce Coulston, taught them earlier in the day when she kicked off reading day with a book of the same name.

“Don’t let them blow you out,” Wardasa Gaines, 5, sang. “I’m gonna let it shine.”

“And we saw pictures while she was reading,” Kaitlyn Rchardson, 5, added.

Coulston said she enjoys reading to children, and the week as a whole has been great for her and the school. She picked the book because it coincided with the week’s theme, Dividends for Life — Faith, Knowledge, Discipline and Morals.

“I have a passion for working with children, so I was excited to be asked to come back and read,” she said. “With many of the students being Baptist, the song really hit all around and the children were able to relate.”

The purpose of Catholic Schools Week is to make people aware that Catholic Schools live on, said Ira Young, instruction and personnel director.

Monday was Student Appreciation Day, and the students created masks for a parade they had around the school.

The parents got their appreciation on Tuesday, when they were treated to breakfast with their children in the cafeteria.

On Wednesday, the teachers switched rooms and pretended to be another staff member.

“They loved not having their own teacher in the classroom,” pre-school teacher Sherry Gaines said.

Thursday brought alumni, pastors and other members from the area in for Community Appreciation Day.

Darryl Grennell and Emma Rose Jackson, who read “Chica Chica Boom Boom” and “How to Take a Mouse to School.”

Zachary Robinson, 4, laughed at the idea of bringing a mouse to school.

“He took a mouse to school with him in his lunch box,” Robinson remembered.

Young said the week has been 100 percent successful. When she asked the students if they liked it, they all nodded and many said that it was a great week.

“We are one step closer to achieving our goal of preparing our students for the 21st century,” Young said.