Children at St. Anne Church in Gorham spent a week this summer learning about some of the key figures in the history of the Catholic Church in Maine. Their lessons weren’t found in a textbook or even on a Chromebook. Instead, the children learned through skits and storytelling during a Vacation Bible School (VBS) created by Sister Jackie Moreau, RSM.

“She used kits way long ago and she said, ‘Not anymore.’ She uses her creativity to make the Vacation Bible School something that is unique to what the kids should be learning about,” says Julie Dansereau, a parish catechetical leader at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, which includes St. Anne Church.

“This Vacation Bible School is so special because Sister Jackie gives all of herself to this. She designs the curriculum herself. She comes up with all of the Bible studies and the theme each year,” says Andrea Stairs-Davenport, a parishioner, who helps with children’s liturgy. “The children are learning a lot about the Holy Family, St. Joseph in particular, and our Catholic ancestors — but in fun ways, through drama and crafts and music.”

Sister Jackie says she got the idea during last year’s VBS, which she designed around Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“One of the fifth graders said to me, ‘Aren’t there any saints in Maine?’ I thought, ‘Wow,’” she says.

Sister Jackie decided to focus this year’s VBS on St. Joseph, as well as on other saints and Catholic men and women of special significance to Maine. Most especially, they included St. André Bessette, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross whose devotion to St. Joseph led to the building of St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal. Also included were Father Sebastian Râle, Bishop Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, Father John Bapst, the Irish at Damariscotta, French Canadians, and Native Americans, among others.

“We need to know that it’s not just history, although it is history, too. There are good people all around us. It’s trying to encourage the children to be their best selves every day,” says Sister Jackie.

The children say they enjoyed learning about and acting out the parts of some of the state’s early Catholics.

“I don’t have any relatives who were the first settlers in Maine, but I think it’s really cool that we’re learning about them because this state is obviously so important to us. It’s really cool to learn about and to experience what it would have been like back then and what it would have taken to survive,” says Allie, age 10.

“I think it’s really important to learn about what was happening then and how hard it was to live back then but how much they pushed through it,” says Quinn, also age 10.

Among the ways the VBS tried to help the campers understand what life was like back then was by tailoring the snacks served to match the time period.

“We try to match the food to what the people then ate. When we did ancient Israel during Jesus’s time, we tried to go through all the foods that Jesus ate,” explains Lisa DeMar, a volunteer catechist and the snack lady. “Last year, we did St. Juan Diego, so it was tortillas, maize, beans, and rice.”

This year’s snacks included hard-boiled eggs, ployes, maple syrup, cornbread, and molasses cookies.

“We had molasses cookies because refined sugar was hard to get back then, so if they made cookies, then they would use molasses,” says DeMar. 

Sister Jackie says the Vacation Bible School provides an opportunity not only to teach but to evangelize because not all the children who attend are active in the Church. She says her teen helpers set positive examples for the younger children through the respect and reverence they display.

“Some of them come every year, so they grow with the program. They look forward to being helpers, and they become mentors,” says Sister Jackie.

“I like helping others, and it also gives me community service hours for Boy Scouts,” says Orion, a 13-year-old helper.

Orion, who played the part of King Herod in one of the performances about the life of St. Joseph, says he particularly enjoys the skits, something echoed by many of the campers.

“Sister Jackie asked me to be a part of the drama department, and I was very excited because I just love being in theater and acting,” says Max, age 14.

“It’s really fun because we get to act out stuff, and we also get to switch our characters in the play,” says Seth, age 9.

“Drama is really fun because we get to act and scream sometimes, and then sometimes in music, we really get to sing, and I love singing, so I just think it’s all over really fun,” says Allie.

The campers say they appreciate Sister Jackie’s efforts in creating the special Vacation Bible School.

“Sister Jackie is amazing. She does a lot of fun things for us,” says Quinn. “She is very, very good at it. She puts all her hard work into it, and it’s really fun. She always seems to make learning about God and everything really fun.”

“Sister Jackie is really sweet. She put so much work in to create this all,” says Allie. “She’s really, really nice, and she loves all of us so much. I really appreciate her doing this every year because I couldn’t survive my summer without it.”

Unfortunately for Allie and the other campers, Sister Jackie announced that, after 23 years working at the church, she is retiring. She still plans to volunteer for children’s liturgy, lead an adult book group, and do prison ministry, but this VBS will be the last one she organizes, leaving big shoes to fill. 

“The kids love her like family. They look up to her. They trust her. They listen to her. She is family to these children, and she’s going to be greatly missed,” says Stairs-Davenport.

“She’s been great for the kids. You can see that they love her and they listen to her,” says Nancy Bickford, a volunteer. “If I ever need someone to talk to, I can tell you that she’s always there.”

“She has just been an icon. She’s just going to be so missed. She’s always positive. She’ll send me little notes in the mail, like, ‘Thank you for being here.’ She’s just amazing,” says Cindy Fiore, a VBS volunteer. “She has a very quiet presence. She never complains. She’s just very calm, and she’s just, she’s Sister Jackie. There’s no one who can replace her.”