July 14, 2020
This year in Faith Formation…….
This letter and Faith Formation Registration Form is late in coming. But who could have predicted the occurrences of these past 4 months? Our lives were put on hold in March that we thought would last a month max. And here we are 4 months later and we have experienced challenges in faith, schooling, employment, childcare, illness, and unrest in our communities. We are now celebrating Mass together physically and virtually, “catching up” on last year, students will receive sacraments, and plans are made to move forward in our education, work, and family lives. But who knows what the next 2 months will bring?! If situations change in our local schools, then we also will adapt. If local schools move to all virtual, in hopes of moving towards in-person, we will do the same.
The Faith Formation team has planned different scenarios for your child(ren)’s religious education this year, including classroom sessions and virtual sessions. When you register please indicate if your child will receive their religious education virtually or in person. These 2 options leave us with some flexibility in the event that in-class sessions are once again suspended. If this is to happen, all students will move to virtual lessons provided by our publisher, St. Mary’s Press, and our catechists. The catechists will be able to check in on their progress via St. Mary’s press for elementary students. Catechists will be able to meet with middle school and high school students via Zoom.
One of our biggest concerns is the number of students sharing the facilities. The number of students we have at both locations causes congestion, sharing of classrooms, and difficulty in social distancing. Health guidelines tell us that physical closeness of students and sharing supplies increases the risk of illness. We think it will be best to offer alternating weeks for elementary and middle school/high school classes. This means we will hold elementary student (Kindergarten thru 5th graders) sessions on one week, and middle school and high school students will meet the following week. We will not be able to gather for large group family gatherings until further notice.
Please register as soon as possible. We need to order classroom and student supplies and arrange for pick up for virtual students. We will need to make more definitive plans on the number of classrooms for each grade as we are limited to 10 students per class. We will need more catechists, too! If you are interested in teaching, please indicate this on the registration form. “Team teaching” with a friend is fun and allows flexibility in responsibilities. We will help you every step of the way! Catechists receive 1 free tuition, too! We are hoping to start classes the end of September and will send out a schedule soon! Please stay up to date by checking your email and the church bulletin!
Parents and catechists, thank you for your patience as we continue to move forward in our plans. Please do call or email us with any questions or concerns. The last 4 months have been challenging for all of us, and we continue to walk the journey with Jesus by our side. We wish you a relaxing, fun, and prayerful summer!
For the Greater Glory of God,
Kathi, Kathy, and Corinne