"Oh Lord, open me up, so that I can shine upon the world."

Atrium prayer, 8-year old child.

                            1:00 Early Dismissal, No PM bus 

Fri., Oct. 11           Staff In-Service, NO SCHOOL

Oct. 21-25             GSCM Book Fair

Fri., Oct. 25           Grandparents/Special Friends Day 

THIS THURSDAY...   

Montessori Moments

Middle School Community: A place for protection during a difficult time of personal transformation

By John Bennett, Middle School Teacher

The two needs of the adolescent [are] protection during the time of difficult physical transition, and an understanding of the society which he is about to enter to play his part as a man... (Montessori, Childhood to Adolescence, 60)

I am often asked: "What do you do professionally?"  When I answer "middle school teacher," the response is usually a sympathetic: "Oh, middle school, those are hard years."

Erik Erikson called adolescence a period of "storm and stress." Adolescence is a period of great personal transformation which can come with a great deal of stress and worry.

As Montessori states, the adolescent needs is to be protected. In the middle school, we strive to protect the adolescent by building a strong community of kind and caring students. This community is developed by monthly community social events, two school trips, team building activities, garden work, and community lunches.

The school trip that really sets our school apart is the fall rafting trip. This trip, which occurs in September, strengthens the community early on the year. During the trip the students work together while rafting two days, sleeping in cabins, riding in the vans, sitting by the campfire, and eating in the lodge. This trip encourages students to have unique interactions that could not happen at school.

Students typically start the trip worrying about who they are going to sit next to in the van and who is going to be in their cabin. By the time the trip is over, the students have let down their barriers, become comfortable being in the group, and just have fun being with whoever happens to be nearby.

The adolescent years will never be considered easy. However, my hope is that by building a strong community of kind and caring adolescents, our students will someday say, "Oh, middle school, those were really great years."

Program News

Student Government Election Coming!

By Joan Ratajczak, Middle School Teacher

Campaign Speeches:  Week of October 21

Election:  Tuesday, October 29

You may have noticed the Middle School students helping with the Food Pantry collection this past Thursday.  These gracious volunteers are also the candidates for Student Government who put their desire to serve into action.  They are:

Josh Junker

Luke Junker

Nicodemus Kaufman

Julia Lotterer

Alliah Bell

Camden Cavill

Thomas LeGouellec

Macaira Pucci

Nick Widmeyer

Each of the lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school students and teachers will have an opportunity to vote on candidates to serve and represent them in various activities such as the Food Pantry collection, holiday activities, Catholic Schools Week, and Helping Hands.  In addition, students from the lower and upper elementary will have representatives appointed by their teachers to serve each of one trimester.  The candidates for the various positions will be giving speeches in the classrooms highlighting their qualifications and willingness to serve others in elected office during the week of October 21. Student Government elections will be held on Tuesday, October 29th between 8 and 9 a.m.

Please pray for our candidates and for all those elected to government offices.

Parent Notices

Young Adults Leaving the Faith:  "Not a Crisis of Faith, but of Parenting"

Focus on the Family recently published a research article entitled "Milllenial Faith Retention."  An excerpt is printed below.  For the full research article, see http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/focus-findings/religion-and-culture/~/media/images/about-us/focus-findings/FF%20-%20Millenial%20Faith%20Retention%20FINAL.ashx 

Young Adults Can't Keep What They Were Never Given

Of those who do leave the Christian faith, very few report having had a very strong religious faith as a child or teenager. Specifically, only 11% of those who abandoned their childhood Christian faith said they were taught a very strong faith during childhood.  So not surprisingly, homes modeling lukewarm faith do not create enduring faith in children. Homes modeling vibrant faith do. So these young adults are leaving something they never had a good grasp of in the first place.

This is not a crisis of faith, per se, but of parenting. This important conclusion from Pew is supported by Smith's work: Religious outcomes in emerging adulthood are not random happenstance about which all bets are off after age 18. Instead, they often follow quite predictably from formative religious influences that shape persons' lives in earlier years. . . . [The] religious commitments, practices and investments made during childhood and the teenage years, by parents and others in families and religious communities, matter - they make a difference.  (emphasis added)

August 2013 Page 5

This is perhaps the most important thing that parents and pastors should know regarding faith retention in young adulthood: Parents who provide a home where faith is vibrantly practiced - even imperfectly - are remarkably likely to create young adults who remain serious Christians, even as they sometimes go through bumpy spots in the road.

Child Care Needed

Mom's Scripture Meditation Group

Fridays, Oct. 18; Nov. 1, 15; Dec. 6; 9:15-11:15 a.m.

In church following Mass.

Please join us every first and third Friday of the month after morning Mass to meditate on Scripture and enjoy sharing with each other.    This group is open to all mothers regardless of faith denomination.  Any questions, email Karen at ekguilford@fuse.net

Early Childhood Education Symposium

Saturday, Oct. 26, 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The Sixth Annual Early Childhood Education Symposium will be held Saturday, Oct. 26 from 8:30  a.m.-1 p.m. in the Lower School Building at The Summit Country Day School Lower School, 2161 Grandin Road, 45208.  Free. Open to the public.  Complimentary box lunch for those who register by Oct. 24.  This year's keynote speaker is Dr. John Chattin-McNichols who will give an address entitled  "Demystifying Montessori." For more information:  http://www.summitcds.org/symposium/index.cfm