PLAIN — St. Luke School in Plain recently celebrated a victory — both for itself as a school and for the diocese as a whole.

The Diocese of Madison’s annual Giving Tuesday campaign has focused on Catholic schools for the last several years.

It is also in the form of a contest, awarding two schools — the one with the most dollars and the one with the highest participation — a celebration with the bishop.

This year, the celebration was “Bagels with the Bishop.”

St. Luke School in Plain won the highest dollar amount for the third year in a row.

The small but mighty school welcomed Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison on January 28, during Catholic Schools Week.

The event began with Mass celebrated by the bishop.

Fr. Luke Syse, parochial administrator of Sts. Joachim and Anne Pastorate, where St. Luke School is located, concelebrated, along with parochial vicar Fr. Kumud Chandra Nayak.

The students of St. Luke sang, brought up the gifts, served, and read at the Mass, demonstrating beautiful reverence.

In his homily, the bishop asked students what their favorite part of school was. The answers were varied, from Spanish and math to the food and their friends.

“Here at St. Luke’s, our teachers do very well teaching all the things that children learn in school,” the bishop said.

But what sets a Catholic school apart is the most important thing being taught.

“The most important person in this school is Jesus,” he said.

The bishop also spoke of his gratitude to St. Luke School and to all Catholic schools, encouraging students to think of all the people — teachers, principal, staff, parents, grandparents, priests, and parishioners — who think of them and work to make sure they are taught well.

After Mass, the students gathered cheerfully in the school cafeteria for the promised “Bagels with the Bishop.”  

Some students played rock paper scissors while waiting their turn to get bagels. Others found the small water bottles being handed out perfect for bottle flipping.

Father Syse and Father Nayak shared in the celebration. The bishop, in addition to greeting students as they went through the line, also spent time at various tables, chatting with them.

There were plenty of bagels for all, with many students going back for seconds.

St. Luke School has a revered history in Plain. The school is almost 150 years old, and is still vibrantly passing on the Faith.

The principal, Diane Mueller, is grateful for the abundant support the community gives to the good work being done.

“It’s just a testament to the wonderfully generous and kind people in this community, and they have such a deep, deep faith that they want this tradition of Catholic education to continue. So they just support us beyond — it’s unbelievable . . . [It’s] just a great, generous, Faith-filled community.”