Detroit — The pews of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament were filled for morning Mass Jan. 29 with patterns of green plaid, blue plaid, solid gray, red plaid, blue and white, purple and other variations of school uniforms.

Clearly, it was Catholic Schools Week 2015 in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“It’s a beautiful way for Catholic schools to come together,” said Leah Manimalethu, a senior at St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom.

Fifth-grader Jason Williams and his third-grade schoolmate John Thorne II, of Gesu Catholic School in Detroit, said that “the church is amazing and it looks nice in here.”

The Mass, during which Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron presided, was concelebrated by numerous archdiocesan priests and Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda.

In his homily, Archbishop Vigneron said it’s important to have a Mass for Catholic Schools Week, rather than just a rally or other event.

He told the students that they go to school not just so that they can find good jobs and have decent lives, “but it’s more than that. Because we know that God made you for more than that.”

“God made you to make a gift of yourself to him,” Archbishop Vigneron said.

The archbishop said “making a gift of yourself” means offering what you do each day, whether it’s reading Shakespeare or learning the periodic tables.

“Today, offer him who you are, whatever you’re doing,” he said. “Offer him your senior year. Offer him your fourth-grade year. Offer him your membership in the French club, or whatever it is that you’re doing.”

This year’s Mass also featured the presentation of awards to many of the students, including the Catholic Identity Awards and the Service Awards, which commemorated students’ volunteer work.

The Catholic Identity Awards were based on a religious education test taken in all archdiocesan schools in grades three, five and seven. This year’s third-grade winners were Divine Child in Dearborn (first place), St. Augustine in Richmond (second place), and St. Damien in Westland (third place).

Fifth-grade winners included Holy Redeemer in Detroit (first place), Immaculate Conception in Ira Township (second place) and Holy Name in Birmingham (third place). Seventh-grade winners were Holy Redeemer in Detroit (first place), St. Augustine in Richmond (second place) and Our Lady of Victory in Northville (third place).

This year’s “Overall School Winners” based on averaging the test scores were Holy Redeemer in Detroit for first place, St. Augustine in Richmond for second place and St. Michael in Livonia for third place.

Additionally, the school with the most improved test scores from this year to last was Richmond’s St. Augustine, having raised test scores by 26 points.

Two contestants of the elementary-level Catholic Schools Week poster contest were tied this year, with sixth-grader Emma Sarkisian of Holy Family Regional School in Rochester receiving equal votes with fifth-grader Charles Freese of Immaculate Conception School in Ira Township.

Cardinal Mooney High School’s Monica Freeman, a senior, won first place in the high school contest.