Telling Stories with Totem Poles at Saint James the Apostle School

Where can you find Totem Poles in Springfield, NJ? Well just look inside Saint James the Apostle School. Five (5) beautiful totem poles created by the 5th grade students adorn the hallway outside Miss Lanigan’s classroom. In Social Studies class, the students learned about the Northwest Coast Indians of Canada and their tradition of carving totem poles. Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved on poles, posts, or pillars with symbols or figures made from large trees, mostly western red cedar. Totem poles represent stories or important events in the life of the tribe. Fifth graders were grouped into “tribes”, wrote a collective story about their tribe, an individual story for their own unique section, and then designed and assembled their totem pole. Their totem poles stand almost 8 feet high.

Saint James the Apostle School has been serving the parishioners of Saint James the Apostle Church in Springfield and surrounding communities since 1953. Saint James the Apostle School offers students from PreK-3 through grade eight a Roman Catholic faith-based education which acknowledges each child’s individual ability to achieve their fullest potential academically, socially, and spiritually.

Pictured from left to right: Raina Mendoza, James Jules, Charlee Tarlac, Adam Cordeiro and Jack Chacon
Photo courtesy of Mary-Alice Zavocki