Hello everyone!
We are off to a great start at Aquinas and I want to take the time to update you on the new Discipleship Program. The Discipleship Program is replacing our old service hours program, by incorporating the good it already provided and refocusing on why service is so important. It can be easy to reduce service to something we just check the box with or acknowledge it only as an obligation. While both the discipline and responsibility to give back to our community is something we want to form our students in, as Catholics, acts of service have an even deeper and more profound reality. What we do shapes who we are. For that reason, we wanted to acknowledge this program as a means to become the disciple of Christ we are made to be.
I’m happy to discuss with you the vision and reasons behind this change if you would like to reach out. For the sake of brevity and clarity though, I wanted to highlight a few of the key changes that will be expected of our students.
The biggest content change is we have added a personal formation dimension. This is to acknowledge that each individual is a gift and when we take the time to form ourselves, we are giving back to the community by becoming who we are made to be. Retreats such as TEC (12 hours), Steubenville (8 hrs), SKY Camp (6hrs) and Canoe trip (5 hrs) count towards formation and are great opportunities to get lots of hours! Family holy hours and other examples of formation can be found on the website found below.
Other items of note:
- Every student is required to get 15 discipleship hours.
- Every student is required to get at least one hour in each dimension (personal formation, school, parish, community).
- Students with over 20 hours and all four dimensions covered will be recognized at the end of the year.
- Students will develop a discipleship plan at the beginning of the year to plan out how they will achieve their required hours and recognize areas of further formation.
- Parents will be asked to review and sign their students discipleship plan once it’s completed.
- Students will complete a reflection page after each project.
- Parents will be asked to review and sign each reflection page.
- Students will also choose one completed project to briefly share with their Society during the year.
Our students have received an extensive explanation of the program through their theology classes. If they have any more questions, they can direct their questions to their society mentor. If you have any questions about the program or are wondering what hours will be awarded for certain projects, feel free to reach out to Melissa Yindrick, our campus ministry director. The website is the best place to access more ideas, as well as the Discipleship Plan, Reflection Page, and Discipleship Opportunities Calendar. We will also use daily announcements to let parents and students know of individual requests that come to us throughout the year. Discipleship Program | Aquinas Catholic Schools (this link might be helpful to save!)
Know of my prayers and gratitude for all of you! Your students make me proud to be a Monarch.