A special day

Deirdre Newman

Paul Lawson hasn’t eaten fast food in about 10 years. But Thursday, he

devoured a barbecue-chicken sandwich from Carl’s Jr. in granddaughter

Caitlin’s fifth-grade classroom.

The lunchtime bonding experience took place at Our Lady Queen of

Angels School in Newport Beach as part of its annual Special Persons Day.

The event enables students to invite someone with special significance

in their life -- usually a family member -- to spend the morning with

them. It has been going on “forever,” said Msgr. Bill McLaughlin, who had

the honor of being a special person for one of his students.

“The principal thing to me is the whole community supports the kids

and the school.” McLaughlin said. “This is a way for the kids to say

‘thank you.”’

The special people joined the students at Mass and then ate lunch with

them. While some chose to eat inside their classroom, others slapped

blankets down on the field for spontaneous picnics. Then the students

invited their guests to their classroom to see their work.

Caitlin couldn’t wait to show her grandfather a timeline she had made

of her life, a state report of Texas and a colorful portrait of a tree

she had drawn.

“It’s really exciting to see the kids grow up,” Lawson said, as he was

also invited by his other granddaughter, Kelly. “I’m really proud of

them.”

In a nearby classroom, Van-Anh Ngo was eating a ham sandwich and

grapes and drinking strawberry juice that her two children, Bryan and

Brittany, packed for her.

“It’s the same lunch they have,” Ngo joked.

Brittany, a seventh-grader, said she chose her mom as her guest

because “‘she takes care of us.”

“This is my first time here, and I feel special,” Ngo said.

Fire Battalion Chief Greg Wiggins of Huntington Beach took some

vacation time to be a special person for his second-grade son, Kevin.

“I was able to experience the spiritual aspect of my child’s life and

share his academic experience for a day,” Wiggins said.

First-grade teacher Jennifer Ciucki said she was impressed with the

students’ behavior as they played tour guide for their special people.

“It’s great to see them so well-behaved and treat their special people

with respect,” Ciucki said. “It’s great to see everything we teach them

in action.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .