Please take a look at a comment from yesterday’s post (8/23/07) that surfaces a situation that is all too common: a volunteer catechist with no training (and, as a recent convert, not a lot of familiarity with Catholic Tradition) being asked to teach a group of 30 – that’s right, I said THIRTY – 6th graders!!!
Ugh!
This is just not fair to any catechist, let alone a new one. Even Jesus had 12 Apostles to help him! In Mark’s account (6:34) of the Feeding of the 5000 (now there’s a big class!), we find that Jesus put his disciples to work, organizing the crowd, distributing the food, and collecting the leftovers.
I encourage you to write a comment offering some supportive suggestions to Tina on yesterday’s post. My initial response to her is filled with a great deal of frustration toward the DRE so maybe some of you can be more positive!!!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Bernie 08.24.07 at 9:50 am
I also was a first year Catechist last year and when I expressed my concern to my DRE about being able to relate to the children last year before starting to teach, my DRE blessed me with 12 exceptional students. I did have a few slight challenges during the year but in addition to the support of the DRE, I also had a wonderful resource Catechist and another great teacher at my grade level who I knew would be there for me if I had any questions. If after talking with her DRE Tina still can’t get the appropriate support, I would strongly suggest that she talk with her Pastor or the Ministry Coordinator at her parish to discuss her concerns and difficulties. I pray that someone will be responsive to her situation and provide their RE program with the support that is needed.
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Joe 08.24.07 at 1:16 pm
Thanks, Bernie, for sharing your story and for your sound advice.
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