Youth Ministry | Saint Raymond

2017-2018 Highlight of Branches & Teen Program

Brandi Sulak — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 16:04:29 +0000

We had a wonderful year with the 165 teens in our Branches program and wanted to highlight some of the things we did, topics we discussed, service rendered, and prayers said.

Branches groups: 165 teens = 35 Freshmen—3 groups; 40 Sophomores—3 groups; 45 Juniors—3 groups and 45 Seniors—3 groups

Topics we covered:

Dealing with stress & how faith can help
How to bring prayer and faith into everyday life
Ways to relax, meditate, & pray
Healthy relationships, sexual assault on college campuses (The Hunting Ground viewing)
Learning about hunger and our call to social justice
Discerning your gifts—what is God calling you to?
Learning about ourselves—personality quizzes
Friendship and the qualities of friends
Love Languages of teens & parent relationships
Emotional intelligence
Reconciliation in relationships
Parent and Teens—understanding each other
Alcohol and drugs—truth, decision-making, discussions
Refugees and immigration
Finding balance in life—prioritizing what truly matters
The College process—making decisions about where to go, keeping faith alive in college
Where is love in the world? Today’s problems and how we can make positive changes
Poverty and homelessness

Changes under way in Religious Education Program

Brandi Sulak — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 17:53:25 +0000

There’s lots going on in the Religious Education Office this year, in an attempt to better meet the needs of parish families. Since last fall, our transition team of Fr. Ed Panek, Fr. Gilbert Mashurano, Principal Mary Eileen Ward, RE co-coordinators Michelle Tuchner and Paula St. Louis, and Youth Minister Agnes Knott have met regularly to look at and address issues affecting the religious education program. We’re excited to share some of our work with you:

CONFIRMATION PREP: We have extended and enhanced our Confirmation preparation to align with Archdiocesan requirements that students receive two years of instruction, a retreat, perform community service, and more. RE and SRS students attended the archdiocese’s youth event, Holy Fire, at the UIC Pavilion last fall.

FIRST EUCHARIST PREP: Our second-grade First Eucharist preparation also has grown. First Communicants and their families participated in a First Eucharist Family Event in February, in an attempt to deepen children’s understanding of the sacrament and to bring families from our two youth formation programs together. Thanks to parent feedback, we hope to make this event even better and more meaningful for families next year.

LITURGIES: We added an All-Saints liturgy that parents could attend with their RE students, held a Reconciliation service for junior high students during Lent, third-graders presented a Nativity play during Advent, fifth-graders led the Living Stations of the Cross our last day of RE classes before Holy Week, and we will close the year on Wednesday, April 25, with a prayer service and ice cream social.

CURRICULUM: We are evaluating new books and curriculum to use next year in religion classes in the school and RE program. Once a decision is made, RE catechists and SRS teachers will receive training in how best to implement the curriculum in their classrooms.

CLASS TIMES: We’ve heard from families that the current class times can make it tough for children and catechists to get to RE on time after school, and that many families with older and younger children end up spending hours getting their kids to and from RE classes, often disrupting the family dinner hour. Beginning next year, we hope to let families choose from two Wednesday sessions of RE – 4:45-6 p.m. and 6:30-7:45 p.m. – with at least one class offered in each grade, rather than separating grades 1-5 and grades 6-8. This proposal would let families send all of their children to RE at once, eliminating the separate drop-offs and pickups that junior high families now have, and letting families enjoy their mealtime together.

CATECHIST RECRUITMENT: Beginning this coming school year, we will have two catechists in each classroom. Having two adults per class will help catechists with curriculum planning, scheduling and classroom management. Volunteers can work with a friend or be assigned a partner. Recruitment is under way.

FELLOWSHIP: We sold out our first Bingo Night in February, replacing the annual Religious Education Spaghetti Dinner. Families came between our two RE class sessions, and our junior high students served dinner and emceed the evening. Our next Bingo Night will take place this fall.

Over the summer, we will be busy registering students and assigning them to classes, planning and executing Vacation Bible School the week of July 9-13 – under the volunteer leadership of Brandi Sulak – and setting up curriculum and catechist training for the coming year. Please contact Michelle Tuchner at 847-253-8600, ext. 134, m.tuchner@st-raymond.org, or Paula St. Louis at 847-253-8600, ext 138, p.stlouis@st-raymond.org for more information on any of these projects.

Religious Education and Youth Ministry Volunteer Form

Brandi Sulak — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:40:11 +0000

St. Raymond Religious Education as well as the Youth Ministry have worked all year on some wonderful opportunities to enliven and deepen the faith of our youth–from first graders to high school students. But, WE NEED YOUR HELP to continue these amazing opportunities. Please fill out the form below.

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Alive in You–Teen Mission Trip

Brandi Sulak — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 17:50:02 +0000

Alive in You is a Catholic conference and service camp. We will do service work, such as painting, simple building projects, landscaping, working at a local food pantry or service organization. We will also worship together, listen to motivational speakers, and do some hands-on team building activities. We will leave on Tuesday morning, July 17th and return on Sunday July 22nd around dinnertime. All teens who are presently in grades 9-12 are eligible to participate. If you are interested, the Mission Trip registration form and deposit of $100 ($80 of it non-refundable) is required in order to reserve your spot. Once the registration is open March 1st, the first 18 teens to sign up and pay will be registered for the trip. I expect it to fill quickly. A waitlist will begin as soon as the initial spots fill up. We may be able to add more spots if we can get more adult chaperones. Adults, if you are interested in chaperoning, please let me know. You need to pay via www.givecentral.org and make payment for Summer Mission Trip Registration. If you need help in using Give Central, please contact Roberta Nichols at (847) 253-8600, ext 121. Cost per person: Total Alive in You fee: $365 Travel costs: $125 $490 total Pre-trip meetings: All participants are expected to participate in pre-trip activities and meetings which will be held once a month from March—July. Contact Mrs. Knott if you have questions or concerns: aknott@st-raymond.org

Run for Your Life Refugee Simulation

admin — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 21:44:08 +0000

This past Sunday night our Branches teens and leaders participated in an interactive, hands-on simulation of the challenges that refugees face as they flee for their lives. Exodus World Service facilitated this experience, which engaged teens both physically and emotionally in the refugee experience. Teens learned hands-on some of the challenges that refugees face including limited resources, unjust smugglers, boat captains, and border patrol agents. They had to make decisions about what supplies to bring, whether they would use some of their limited funds to purchase life vests for the boat ride, negotiate with smugglers, and how to manage living in close quarters with so many other refugees. Then, they had to fill out applications to cross the border, which were not in their native language. After they made it, they spent time crowded into tents in the refugee camps, where they were fed cold rice and told that many refugees—on average—spend 17 years in refugee camps. After the simulation, teens and adults reflected on their experience and what they learned about refugees.

To continue to learn about this important issue, teens will discuss more in their Branches groups and consider volunteering with Exodus World Service to help refugee families.

To learn more about Exodus and the wonderful work they do, please check out their website at exodusworldservice.org.