Religious Education
St. Germaine's Religious Education Program
Weekly classes provide religious education and formation for
children attending public school in grades K-8. This includes
preparation for the reception of the Sacraments. The classes
are held on Sunday mornings throughout the school year from 8:45 AM to
10:15 AM. The program also assists in the training and
certification of catechists. Teens are given the opportunity
for service as classroom aides. Resources and encouragement are also
provided for parents.
Religious Education for the Deaf: Special classes in religious
education for children who are deaf are held on Saturday mornings from
9:00 AM to 10:15 AM
Rainbows
St. Germaine Rainbows was re-instituted as an official
'Rainbows" site in 2002. RAINBOWS is an international not-for-profit
organization that offers training and curricula for establishing local
peer support groups for churches, synagogues, hospitals, schools or
social service agencies. The curricula are designed to assist children
who are grieving a death, divorce or any other painful transition in
their families. We use the religious edition of the Rainbows
guidebooks.
In its first year, Rainbows provided service to 11 children, divided
into four age groups, from 4 to 13 years old. They met once a week with
a trained facilitator who serves as a "loving listener" while leading
their group in voluntary and confidential discussions about their
family situations. The children keep personal journals which we provide
and are not seen by anyone else. These sessions were held for 12
consecutive weeks. Week 6 & week 12 were "Celebrate Me Days"
which provided the opportunity to meet as one large group, share some
special activities, after which parents were welcome to enjoy
refreshments. The meetings are as meaningful and interesting as
possible using the assigned Rainbows curricula, so that the
children feel welcome and look forward to being a part of
Rainbows.
St. Germaine Rainbows continues to recruit enough trained facilitators
to accommodate the children who may join the group. Efforts
are made to get word out through all available venues so that all who
need this service can be reached.
Possible funding is being sought to support some of the costs of
training and materials.
Marion Krucek is the coordinator for our local program.