St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School – Mass Kit

The school community will benefit from its own Mass Kit with legitimate ceremonial Chalices, Ciboriums, Cruets, etc. The school currently hosts 10 masses a year but does not have its own kit, and instead, shares with the local parish. The new mass kit will help students develop a greater understanding and appreciation of mass. This initiative has been given $3,500.

Testimonial:

“Mass is the centre of our communal life as Catholics it is important that when we come together to worship God we use chalices, ciboriums and other artifacts that reflect the sanctity of the Mass. With this gift, we are able to come before our Lord with sacred vessels that show the importance of His sacrifice for us. Our school celebrates many Masses throughout the school year and will be able to use this gift for many years to come. This gift has positively affected our community as well. Our school parish has had to go through a complete renovation to make it safe for the congregation. Without our school’s use of space and Mass kit the people from our parish, many of them seniors, would have had to travel to other parishes in the area or skip Mass until the completion of the church. They, too, have been grateful for this gift.”

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School – Faith Retreats

The school will host FacetoFace Ministries and offer students a faith-filled day full of music, worship and praise. This initiative has been allocated $2,000.

Testimonial:

“Our elementary students welcomed PULSE Ministries with an engaging musical performance and faith engagement retreat. In addition, our middle school students experienced NET Ministries, which was a retreat that featured an engaging and intimate look at their relationship with Jesus.”

St. Gregory the Great Catholic School – Pure Witness Ministries

The school community will host Pure Witness Ministries over a two-day retreat. The intent is for students to develop and grow their foundational relationship with God. This initiative has been given $3,200.

St. Francis of Assisi Middle School – Way of the Wolf

This is a positive recognition program, previously named Growing in Respect and Responsibility. This new program will be centred around the values the school calls the four pillars: be humble, be loving, be forgiving, be joyful. Leadership students will help facilitate the recognition of acts of kindness. This project has been given $3,000.

St. Francis of Assisi Middle School – Faith Formation

All students will have the opportunity to join the Alpha Youth Program, which is a 13-session program running twice per month, and aims to educate and inspire today’s youth. Students will be encouraged to grow in their faith throughout the school year through a number of faith-filled initiatives. The school has been allocated $4,000 towards these projects.

St. Elizabeth Seton School – School Faith Retreat

Students in Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5 will participate in a one-day retreat with FacetoFace Ministries. Students will learn about living and proclaiming their faith. This initiative has been given $1,350.

Testimonial:

Students were able to participate in small group gatherings, live-streamed presentations and also pre-recorded video sessions. All the sessions were highly engaging using music, stories, games, songs with actions and prayerful moments to motivate students of all ages. The School Retreat theme for this year was “Great Things” with a focus on the great things that God has done, the great things He’s continuing to do, and the great things that we can do through Him in our lives. The theme was based on the following scripture: For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:49.

Maryview School – Feeling the Faith

The Learning Commons will be given a variety of resources to help students deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith. These resources include books, audiobooks, games, puzzles, toys, technology, and other manipulatives. This initiative has been allocated $3,000.

Testimonial:

We have used our grant to purchase faith-based children’s books, games, movies, toys and technology. Each week, a chapter or two is read in the book “The Sign of the Carved Cross” and the story holds the students’ attention and gets them talking about our faith.

Maryview School – Faith-based Presentations & Retreats

Grade 4-5 students will have the opportunity to experience a one-day faith retreat filled with various activities including crafts, bible study, singing and faith-based games. The school community will also host a theatre production company that will help all students on their personal faith journey. This project was given $3,500.

 

 

Testimonial

Heartbeat Theatre Productions (from Calgary) came to Maryview through the generous funding provided by the Educational Foundation. This whole school (K-5) theatre production highlighted
our division theme of “Lord, light the path and I will lead others.”

Their message positively impacted our students by sharing Matthew 5:14a, 16a . “You are the light of the world…, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and
give glory to your Father in heaven.” The message was presented in a funny, theatrical story that engaged students but also helped them better understand how we all can be leaders when we follow Christ and let Him be our guide.

Holy Trinity Catholic School – Religion Resources

Each school classroom will be given a set of YouCat/DoCat books to assist students in growing their faith. The hope is that by having easy access to books and study guides, students will explore their understanding of social justice more independently and frequently. This project was given $600.

 

Testimonial:

We purchased YouCats and YouCat Kids for every classroom. By having these books available in each room, the teachers have an easy-to-use resource when planning or when a question comes up in class. Students are encouraged to look through the YouCat and become more comfortable and familiar with this rich church text. These books allow for teachers to set an example for students when looking for answers to our faith. We have also been using the YouCat Kids in Grades 1 and 2 when talking about community helpers and the vocations within the Church. The students love the pictures and the easy language to follow.

We also purchased a set of DoCats and DoCat Study Guides for group use in middle school. These will be used greatly when talking about stewardship and social justice within our middle school Religion, Science, and Social Studies classes. Teachers have already begun discussing their use with the faith coach and look forward to putting them to use in upcoming units.

Holy Family School – FacetoFace Ministries

FacetoFace Ministries will lead a one-day retreat split into various grade groups so students can experience their faith through music, keynote talks, activities, dance, play and prayer. This initiative has been allocated $1,350.

Testimonial

We were truly blessed this year to have had Ryan and Daniel from Face2Face Ministries join us at Holy Family School. They visited us on December 10, 2020 for a whole day where they brought our Catholic faith to life through music, virtual keynote talks, activities, and prayer. As a result of COVID-19 guidelines and procedures, the retreat was laid out differently than normal to ensure the safety of all students, staff, and presenters.  The retreat consisted of whole school praise and worship sessions that were live-streamed to all classrooms in the school, followed by separate grade sessions presented to individual Grade 4 and Grade 5 class cohorts in the gym scheduled throughout the day. The energy and enthusiasm that they brought to our school were palpable throughout the day.  Even without all being together in the gym, the excitement could be heard in the classrooms and hallways as the presenters sang and praised our Lord!

The overall theme for the retreat was “Great Things.” Face2Face Ministries presenters explored the great things God has done, the great things He’s continuing to do, and the great things that we can do through Him in our lives.  They reminded our school community to Know God, Love God, and Serve God through acts of service and prayer!  We are beyond thankful for the Catholic Education grant that allowed us to finance this amazing Catholic rich learning opportunity for our students and staff!

Watch the video here.