EDUCATION COMMISSION AGENDA. Monday, August 6, St. Mike s Place 7:00 P.M.

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1 EDUCATION COMMISSION AGENDA Monday, August 6, 2018 St. Mike s Place 7:00 P.M. 1. Welcome New Member-Cara Keller-Grade 7-12 catechist representative 2. Opening Prayer Deb Ranly 3. Agenda Review 4. Election of Officers 5. Approval of Minutes May 14, Reports: 1. Elementary 2. Junior High/ High School 3. Youth Ministry 4. Adult Education 5. RCIA, etc. Next Meeting Date, November 12, 2018; 7:00 p.m.; St. Mike s Place Meeting Dates for the rest of the year: November 12, January 14, March 11 and May 13 Prayer for next meeting: 1

2 ST. MICHAEL PARISH, FORT LORAMIE, OHIO EDUCATION COMMISSION Minutes May 14, 2018 ATTENDEES: Angie Hoelscher Jon Holland Joe Turner Kevin Schulze Father Steve Deb Ranly Annette Bollheimer Ann Bollheimer Matt Bertke Rose Meyer ABSENT: Lisa Holthaus Kate Boeke Nicole Pleiman Jay Schulze Kaye Borchers Laura DeMange 1. Opening Prayer Father Steve led Opening Prayer. 2. Agenda Review 3. Approval of March 5, 2018 Meeting Minutes Annette Bollheimer motioned to approve the March 5, 2018, minutes; Matt Bertke seconded. Motion passed. 4. Reports Elementary Report 1.) CCD: Deb Ranly reported that this is our last week of CCD, with May Crowning on Thursday, the 17 th, being the final event and involving grades 1-6. We had 48 children receive the sacrament of First Communion on May 6 th and everything went very well. For the CCD year, I will have at least two, and possibly four, catechist openings to fill. Any suggestions of possibilities are welcome. Kindergarten CCD ended in March and we have had our end of year meeting. All four catechists plan to return in the fall. We decided to change the class time and the length of class for the fall session in an attempt to keep both the catechists and the parents happy. The new class time will be 6:30 7:15 pm on Wednesdays again. They all feel the shorter timeframe will allow them to cover the lessons and still allow families to fit their evening meal in and get them home with ample time to bathe and get them to bed on time. 2.) VBS: With CCD ending, we are continuing preparations for VBS, which is the week of July This year four catechists are either unable or no longer wish to help with this event. Of the four openings, I have only been able to fill one to date. Registrations have been coming in regularly. 3.) VIRTUS: Recent changes to Virtus have been implemented. There is no longer that one-hour window for exemption of VIRTUS requirements for our volunteers. All volunteers are now required to attend the 3-hour workshop, do the selection.com background check and read monthly bulletins in order to stay complaint. Any volunteer being paid for their time must also be fingerprinted. The big area that this will affect is our free childcare offered for the catechists while they teach and the childcare provide during VBS. The women who walk the kids to and from mass were already required to do these things. 4.) VOCARE: This is still a slow process for my elementary catechists. The new and uncertified (in our previous certification process) need to have their four credits completed by mid-june in order to be recorded and approved by 1 July. Of the seven for elementary, I still have four that have not complied. There are two catechists that will retire from teaching after this year (if not before) due to the new VOCARE requirements. 2

3 5.) GENERATIONS OF FAITH: Father Steve has given me the approval to make plans for another GOF event to be held the week before Lent again. I am in the process of securing the entertainment for the next event. Other details like who will be included (for crowd control issues), food, helpers, and so on are yet to be decided. Anyone wishing to be a part of a planning committee are welcome and can contact me directly. Jr. High/High School Report: Kate Boeke reported the following: 1.) JUNIOR HIGH The last class for the year was Wednesday April 4 th. End of year catechist meetings have been held. I will need 1 8 th grade catechist for next year All 7 th grade catechists have met the minimum requirement for the first year of Vocare. 8 th grade catechists are still working on Vocare. 2.) HIGH SCHOOL The last class of the year was April 4, 2018 Graduate Recognition Mass is scheduled for May 27 at 11:00. Instead of offering after Mass refreshments we will provide cookies at the high school where students have a light lunch before commencement. Confirmation has been scheduled for February 24, 2019 at 2:00 pm with Archbishop Schnurr as the celebrant. Confirmation rehearsal will be February 20 th at 7:30 pm at St. Michael Church. Letters have already been sent home to pastoral region 8 th graders with details regarding Confirmation Retreat (Sunday November 11) and Confirmation Day. All freshman catechists are returning next year, we are exploring having all 4 classes at Fort Loramie High School again next year. 1 freshman catechist has met his minimum Vocare requirement, 1 had previous certification so doesn t need to take action until 2019 and 2 are still working on their Vocare progress. The end of year meeting for grade catechists will likely take place Thursday May 24 th although this date had not been made official yet. Two grade catechists have previous certifications so do not need to start Vocare until The rest are currently working toward the minimum requirements. Youth Ministry Report: Kevin reported that with the school year ending this past Friday, the normal schedule is complete. The new schedule for summer will be as follows: 1 st Sunday of Month Nothing, encourage youth to spend time with their families 2 nd Sunday of Month Youth St. Michael s Hall 3 rd Sunday of Month JH Youth St. Michael s Hall 4 th Sunday of Month Youth St. Michael s Hall 5 th Sunday of Month (if applicable) Movie Night or another activity Every Friday morning of School breakfast St. Mike s place o YM has transitioned into summer schedule and will begin with 1 st Sundays of month St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen in Dayton Thursday night activity nights beginning in June. o The Servers picnic will be held on Friday, June 8, 2018 at the park and that is for departing 5 th -8 th graders 3

4 o o o o ABIDE is an Archdiocesan mini-retreat scheduled for Saturday, June 23 in West Milton featuring food, games, Mass, and a concert - This is open to all HS teens. Steubenville 22 currently signed up. July Archbishop Schnurr will be there. Still need one adult to help JH retreat scheduled for July Maria Stein Spiritual Center from 1p-5pm. All incoming JH students welcome. Liberty Days Cake Wheel and Dunk Take as Youth Ministry Fund Raisers. Need volunteers to run booths and bake cookies and cakes. Adult Faith Formation Report: Ann Bollheimer reported on a Sister Parish Project for between St. Michael, Ss, Peter and Paul and Iglesias de San Cristobal, El Salvador through the Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation. She is looking for sponsors to aid in this endeavor. While a financial sponsorship does have a financial aspect, it is more about the relationships formed and experience shared between the two countries and culture. The Faith Formation classes are being facilitated through UD. RCIA: Rose Meyer reported that 8 adults and 2 children entered the Church at Easter. There have already been five people expressed interest in next year GRIEFSHARE: Rose Meyer reported that only 3 people participated this year. While disappointed in number, they are trying to do more one day activity. Ex: Purchased Loss of a Spouse. They are hoping this will improve numbers for the great program. Parishioners are invited many years after the loss of their loved ones. LENTEN ACTIVITIES: The parish mission was well received and the church was full on each of the four nights There were people, though, that didn t understand the mission and exactly what the event was will keep that in mind for future years. Schoenstatt basic and advanced were well received.. 55 people joined the basic class and 40 people joined the advanced group. A Schoenstatt book study on Everyday Sanctity was held at Elfrieda Sanders home and 6 people participating. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL: VBS will be held July SMH from 9-11:45 a.m. The program this year will be Son Quest Rainforest which will focus on the parable of Jesus. This is a repeat of a program completed in The theme station will teach the children about statues and stained glass windows in church, the sacred vestments and vessels used at Mass, and the special things inside each Catholic Church. The solidarity project will teach the kids about El Salvador and the special people that live there. There will be a garden. The Children s Christmas Pageant was held this year in the church, and this seemed to be a good move. All could see and hear better. Children were then able to visit with Santa, but moving forward in 2018, there will be no Santa visit, as there are other opportunities for children to meet Santa at other community events. New Business: On-Line Registration: Ann Bollheimer reported that the parish will be able to offer on-line registration parish activities. Training for pastoral team starts next week. Hoping that CCD registration can be done this way this year! Next Year s Meeting Schedule: We need to know the schedule for next year and when we will come back together. Kate will need to let us know next year s schedule. Deb Ranly will lead prayer. HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! 4

5 ELEMENTARY REPORT AUGUST 6, 2018 Submitted by Deb Ranly K-6 CCD: : I am currently working to get everything ready and back in order for the start of CCD classes, which begin on Monday August 20 th this year. I hope to continue having our elementary classes start on the first full week of school instead of the very first day as in the past. I had two catechists to replace this year, Betty Marchal has retired from teaching 1 st grade and Renee Mescher chose to not teach 5 th grade for a couple of years while her baby is still a baby. She will continue teaching the 2 days a week for 2 nd grade and plans to come back to 5 th grade at some point. Holly Middendorf is the new 1 st grade teacher and Dr. Sarah Werner is the new 5 th grade teacher. I think both of these new catechists will be a good fit. I was able to obtain the free grant for both of them to take the VOCARE online lessons and they both have been VIRTUS approved for a while. Our grades K-2 are also going to be using the Loyola Press curriculum our grades 3-6 started new last year and the books arrived last week. Kindergarten CCD will not begin until October 3 rd on Wednesday evenings again but the time has changed and will start at 6:30 and end at 7:15. This morning, we began our back to school catechist meetings and will continue through Wednesday afternoon. These are to make sure all necessary paperwork from catechists is signed/updated and they have their materials, class lists and schedules. I am still looking for a few childcare providers since we now require someone Monday thru Thursday. Please let me know if you are aware of anyone possibly interested. In addition, I have been working with a family over the summer who have an autistic child and they would like him to be prepared and receive the Sacrament of Eucharist. The child can read at about 3 rd grade level. I have provided them with a mass kit and DVDs and the family has been regularly engaged in working with the child. We all feel he has a pretty grip on the entire concept of what the Eucharist is about and last week I gave them a couple of sacrament workbooks we received as samples. This will be the test to see if he is adequately prepared and when he is, they will meet with Father Steve and proceed with him receiving the sacrament. VIRTUS: We held two workshops in June. I had six attendees and Kate had nine. All four of the SM Hall employees are totally compliant now with B4, CBI, VIRTUS and selection.com. I notice there are several workshop in our area over the next couple of months if you know of anyone looking for a close to home workshop. 5

6 VOCARE: It took up until the final day of June 30 th but I was able to get all of my elementary catechists on board and complete their VOCARE requirements by deadline. I would like to change our stipend policy to reflect the new certification process and propose the following: Prior to completing a Badge $11/hr Completion of: Call Badge $12/hr Witness Badge $13/hr Proclaim Badge $14/hr Inspire Badge $15/hr Enrichment Badge $16/hr GOF: I have set the date for the next Generations of Faith event for SM and it will be on Wednesday, February 27 th, which is the week before Ash Wednesday. The entertainment for this event will be Brad Brown Magic. He is a magician, of course, who uses his program to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reviews of his performances are over the top and I am excited to have him for our next event. You can check him out at I have 3-4 catechists interested in being part of the committee making decisions/changes to this event. If you are interested in being part of this group, please let me know. 6

7 JUNIOR HIGH / HIGH SCHOOL REPORT EDUCATION COMMISSION MEETING: KATE BOEKE August 6, 2018 JUNIOR HIGH Junior High classes will begin Wednesday September 12, 7-8:15 pm at Fort Loramie High School One 8 th grade catechists is still needed for this year I am starting the process of schedule beginning of the year meetings for the end of August. We are again looking on scheduling Wendy Gerstner to come and speak to 8 th graders and their parents about Communication in the Modern Age although a date has not been Confirmed. EDGE from Lifeteen continues to be the junior high curriculum. Church and Sacraments are the focus of 7 th grade and Prayer and Social Justice are the focus of the 8 th grade year. We will begin working on adding Theology of the Body to the Junior High curriculum in the school year due to changes in the Graded Course of Study from the Archdiocese. HIGH SCHOOL Grade students will begin with a beginning of the year orientation on Wednesday September 5 with classes beginning at the high school for all grades 7-12 on September 12. Class times are 7:00-8:15 pm Beginning of the year catechist meetings are in the process of being scheduled. We will continue to use the Anointed in the Spirit Confirmation Prep resource from St. Mary s Press and supplement with Chosen from Ascension Press for freshman year/confirmation Preparation. Al Cucchetti is scheduled to come and speak to Confirmation Candidates and their Sponsors on Wednesday October 3 rd. We are again planning a trip to the Maria Stein Relic Chapel although a date has not yet been confirmed. All freshman classes will be held at Fort Loramie High School this year, there will not be a class held at Ss. Peter and Paul. This situation will be reevaluated yearly. Grade curriculum is largely based on Lifeteen with some supplemental resources from Ascension Press and Pflaum. The large group Religious Education event for high school students in February will be Father Dan Schmitmeyer, vocation director for the Archdiocese and religious sisters from Children of Mary in Newark, OH. All high school teachers are returning and Allison Zimmerman has agreed to teach a session on Saints. Kaye Borchers has agreed to introduce a new class on Care for God s Creation based off of Pope Francis encyclical letter Ladato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. Vocare: I am currently finishing up another Formed/Facebook study on Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist. There are 26 participants from both SM and SPP. Approximately 12 catechists will be able to receive 2 credits in Vocare upon completion of this course in one week. 7

8 EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT AUG., 2018 RCIA 1 unbaptized child is going through Children s RCIA now. He is going into third grade. We have 2 adults who ve confirmed they intend to be part of RCIA this fall and 3 additional maybes so far. I am doing a summer RCIA class for a woman and her spouse who weren t able to do sessions during the regular school year. She should finish this fall. MOMS Plan to offer a fall group this year. The last couple of years we haven t had a fall group because the women who expressed interest said this is too busy a time of year for them. This summer a woman called who has a group of friends who are all interested. SCHOENSTATT The last 2 years we ve had 50+ people in our beginner s class. 6 months ago we began an advanced class which has 40 people in it. The response for this program has been overwhelming with many people delving deeper into their faith and becoming more involved in the parish. Plans are to offer another beginner s class this winter and another advanced class this fall. DIVORCED MINISTRY Plan to start a 12-week group beginning early Sept. and ending before Thanksgiving. VBS Received excellent comments from parents, participants and volunteers This year we added another station in our rotation so the children could have more time to learn about solidarity and caring for creation. It was very well received. 220 children came, one of the largest groups ever Suggestions from teachers for improvements have been noted for consideration in planning next year s event Submitted by: Rose Meyer 8