NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School’s religion teacher, JoAnn Waycaster, was adopted as a child, but no one could notice that by just looking at her.

The same goes for approximately 135,000 children who are adopted each year, whose birthmothers’ chose not to have an abortion, she said.

In recognition of Catholic Schools Week — a nationally recognized annual celebration of Catholic education — Cathedral students have much on their agenda, from listening to motivational speakers in the auditorium to watching an Air Evacuation helicopter land on the football field.

Kimberly Burkley, the assistant administrator at Cathedral, said the activities allow Cathedral to promote the positive teachings in the Catholic faith to students, their parents and people throughout the community.

“(Catholic Schools Week) allows us to promote the Catholic faith … and bring everyone together,” Burkley said. “Some things get taken for granted. … This week is a way for us to say we are a Catholic school and we’re proud of what we are. … We’ve had a great week so far and a wonderful turnout from people in the community.”

One of Wednesday’s activities included a presentation by Waycaster about the “March for Life” that she and a number of students attended in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, which she plans to do again next year.

Waycaster said not only did her own mother choose life for her, but she also chose life for one of her children who had a chromosome disorder that rendered him “not compatible with life.”

Waycaster said her doctor advised her to terminate her pregnancy to her third child, John Connor Waycaster, who lived six weeks and a day after his birth on May 3, 2004.

“He was 3 pounds and 1 ounce,” she said. “He had to be put on oxygen and he had to be fed through a tube, but he looked perfectly normal except he was tiny. … We had a full-blown birthday party for him every single week that he lived because we wanted to celebrate his life. … I never could have imagined the good that life brought. Every life is precious, no matter how short.”

Waycaster said fetal abnormalities, the health of the mother, rape and incest together account for less than 2 percent of abortions in the United States.“I was really surprised to hear the number of abortions,” said Trinity Miller, senior at Cathedral. “A lot of people talk about it, but I’ve never actually heard the statistics.”

Following her presentation Tuesday, Waycaster invited the students listening to sign up for a newly created organization called “Students For Life.”

Jonovan “JC” Harris, a junior student, was among the pool of students that surrounded the sign-up sheet in the auditorium.

“This was a review of some of the values I already had,” Harris said. “I signed up to be more involved. … I didn’t know Mrs. Waycaster was adopted. … It surprised me because you can sometimes look at people and tell that they’ve been through a lot. But she just carries herself so differently. She is always so happy and you can tell that she is at peace with her life.”