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.