One of the distinctive features of July and early August is the change in sounds in the school. The absence of squeaky feet and the staccato of children's voices might be replaced by the crunch and clank of construction, the rhythmic sweeping of the maintenance crew, the swish-swish of the paint brush, or the gentle hum of the floor polisher. The change in volume and tone is a strong sensory reminder of the opportunities that these weeks hold for principals, school staff, and teachers. What about parents? See a few paragraphs below.
The weeks seem to promise that we have time to tackle a big project, think through a major organizational change, or rewrite a tired curriculum. July and August encourage us to go back to the fundamentals, the foundations upon which we have built our Catholic education in this parish and school.
This issue of To Teach provides suggestions to help you firm up your foundations, and foster an effective and nurturing curriculum, environment, and educational and professional experience for all of the adults and students in our school.
The ideas below for principals and school leaders reflect the expectations of Catholic school leadership on page xi of The Principal as Spiritual Leader which is volume II of the three-volume program Formation and Development for Catholic School Leaders from the bishops. The expectations include nurturing the faith develoment of faculty and staff, providing opportunities to celebrate faith, and integrating gospel values and Christian ethics in the school.
The National Directory for Catechesis is the reference point for ideas for teachers and parents, especially Section 48E in Chapter 7, Catechizing the People of God in Diverse Settings and Sections 54B and 54C of Chapter 8, Those Who Catechize.
As for parents, the tempo and volume at home are often quite the opposite of that at school. In the midst of the busy-ness of summer, parents and their children can continue to foster the faith that grounds their identify and experience of the world. The suggestions below hopefully will help strengthen the roots and continue to promote the faith in the family.
Identify a chapter in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults as a focus for reflection for each of your PTA/PTO, staff, and school board meetings during the coming year. Consider using one of the prayers or the meditation as the reflection for the start or end of your meeting. For a 10-15 minute reflection, consider reading the faith story, then an excerpt from the teaching section, followed by one or two discussion questions.
Dedicate time at your PTA/PTO meetings and space in your newsletter to helping parents become more confident in their role as primary religious educators in the lives of their children. Identify the top doctrinal issues that your parents will most likely be dealing with in the coming year, and prepare a list of chapters from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults that address these issues. Give them information on how to order the book or buy bulk copies and resell them to your parents.
Plan ways in which to improve the knowledge and understanding of the traditional Catholic prayers, especially those that are included in your diocesan catechetical guidelines for each grade level. Appendix A in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church includes a list of the common traditional Catholic prayers in English and Latin. The Manual of Indulgences includes many of the same prayers plus others. The Manual of Indulgences also provides the opportunity to educate your school on the Church's tradition on indulgences. Note that indulgences are granted for moments in the lives of your school or children like First Holy Communion (p. 50),during the Rosary (p. 58), and when they pray for to their guardian angel (p. 62).
Use the early summer as an opportunity to assess how well the school is implementing the vision for religious education as highlighted in Chapter 8, "Those Who Catechize," of the National Directory for Catechesis with particular attention on the section on the roles of all teachers and parents. Incorporate Sessions I (Introduction and Overview of the National Directory for Catechesis) and II (The Characteristics of Catechesis) of the Foundational Sessions in the Leader's Guide to the National Directory for Catechesis into your staff planning day or retreat.
Highlight how you would like to see the 2007-2008 catechetical theme, "Catechesis: Encountering the Living Christ," incorporated into all of your school Masses. Read the pastoral and theological reflections in the Celebrating the Catechetical Year 2007-2008 manual as background and a resource.
Encourage parents to take on a greater responsibility for teaching their children how to pray by providing them with access to resources like Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. This newly revised edition includes prayers that address a broad spectrum of family experiences. Consider giving copies as a gift to parents who are key volunteers in your school or invite your PTA/PTO group to buy copies at as discount and resell them to parents as a small fundraiser.
Using the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults as a resource, select 5-10 men and women featured in the faith stories as a focus for a bulletin board or project and connect the story with a chapter or topic in one of your classroom subjects for the next year. Talk with your school librarian to ensure that there are resources available to the children to do additional reading or research.
Highlight seven lessons or topics where you can relate the content to one of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching (a complete description is available in Sharing Catholic Social Teaching which is available in print, online, and as a poster and card.) Supplemental resources including lesson plans for each theme are available online on caring for the global poverty, immigrants, and death penalty.
Incorporate one of the lesson plans on welcoming immigrants and refugees into your schedule. Opportunities in the liturgical calendar include the first week in January which is usually set aside as National Migration Week (begins with the Solemnity of the Epiphany).
Plan how you are going to introduce the 2007-2008 annual catechetical theme, "Catechesis: Encountering the Living Christ," in your classroom. Review the contents of the manual for ideas on how to bring this theme to life. Note that the image on this year's poster includes a variety of traditional symbols that represent Jesus Christ. Look for ways that your students can use those symbols and add to them throughout the year.
Take a closer look at how you and your child pray each day. Has your child started to outgrow the prayers that are familiar to him or her? Are there other prayers that would be age-appropriate for your child to learn this year? Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church contains the core prayers of the Catholic tradition that are also included in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers plus additional prayers and blessings that are for use in the home.
Build on your knowledge of basic Catholic belief by spending a few minutes each day reading and reflecting on the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. If your child will be preparing for and receiving First Communion or Reconciliation in the coming year, focus on chapters 17 and 18 on the Sacraments of Eucharist and Penance. The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist written in question and answer form delves more deeply into the Church's teaching on transubstantiation. Book of Readings on the Eucharist highlights the relationship beween the Eucharist and other topics like justice. Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, also written in question and answer form, addresses central issues surrounding the sacrament.
"Forming Adult Faith" includes suggestions from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) on how to promote ongoing faith formation among the adults in your school community.
Both individuals and groups can use the following suggestions for all of the chapters in the USCCA. Since summer has fewer natural opportunities to gather as a group, invite someone at home or school to be your prayer partner. Together, select chapters to read and discuss. Try to meet regularly in person, on the phone, or by email and share your learnings.
Read the faith story at the start of the chapter. In your journal, write down your initial thoughts that arose as you read about this person. What would you like to learn from this person? How does this person's life challenge you?
Read the teaching section and the sidebars. Spend a few moments thinking about your responses to the discussion questions. If time allows, note your answers to the questions. If you have the opportunity, share your thoughts with your spouse or a school colleague.
Reflect on the relationship of Catholic teaching in the chapter to the culture. What are the challenges that Catholic teaching has for the culture? What can you do to help bring about that change?
Select one of the prayers or the meditation and commit to using it as part of your prayer for a week. At the end of the week, note any insights that you gained throughout the week using the prayer or meditation.
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the foundations of Catholic faith. So, select one question a week (8-12 questions for the whole summer) to learn and memorize. Choose questions on topics that are of great interest, that you struggle with and want to understand better, or that you find arise in your classroom repeatedly.
Review the questions and answers.
Consider how to use them in the coming year as part of your lesson plan.
Develop learning activities that will encourage you and your students to learn the teaching by heart (memorization)
