Catholic School Reflection Paper

As an aspiring teacher, I believe that my primary duty is to assist my students to advance in all aspects of their own personal growth, spiritual as well as intellectual and academic. The Catholic School is an ideal place to achieve this goal. The sense of comfort and security that comes from being surrounded by others who overall share the same values and religion is nurturing for the students and allows the teacher to give of

In today’s extremely competitive, job-scarce economy, having a college degree is now a steadfast requirement when applying to even entry-level professional jobs. Choosing a college has always been a challenging task for high school seniors, but it is now fraught with stress and anxiety for nearly every adult who seeks to further their education. Questions abound: what school offers the exact program I desire? What school is in the best location, or has the best campus? What school feels ‘right’?

Pope Francis once said, “An education in the fullness of humanity should be the defining feature of Catholic schools.” To me, this sentiment sums up why a Catholic education is so important for many reasons. I have attended many different types of schools: public, private, Catholic and homeschool as a result of my father’s career in the military. However, only my experiences at Catholic schools provide me with a truly well-rounded education because, at Catholic schools, I receive the opportunity to learn about the amazing gift of God’s love every day during school hours. I love studying Scripture and seeing ways in which God is present in our lives. It is such a special experience to be able to do that in a school environment where you can really learn the fundamentals of our faith, as well as experiencing many different aspects of our Catholic faith, from prayer to Mass as a part of

Attending Catholic school is very important to me especially because I have a lot of very good friends at Sacred Heart School. For example, my best friend Lucianna is attending Sacred Heart again next year and I look forward to her company. My teachers and the staff at Sacred Heart are kind, dedicated, and very nice and I really like our principal Mr. Coyle. Mr. Coyle teaches us that school can be holy, educational, and fun all at the same time. Everyone at my school teaches us about our Catholic faith, like the importance of following the ten commandments, our church history such as Peter becoming a martyr for his faith, and learning a lot prayers such as the Apostles Creed and the Prayer of Saint Francis. At my Catholic school we go to church every month and we have religion class every day. I like learning about my faith and that by having religion class on a daily basis, practice makes permanent. We have special faith activities like our entire school says rosaries together and we have stations of the cross. We get to wear a uniform, which I think is really pretty, and I do not have to

The instructors in both Catholic and Public schools have similar teaching skills, yet differences exist. Catholic school reputation is one of being uptight and strict. The strictness of Catholic schools focuses on how long the uniform skirt is, having the uniform shirt always tucked in, wearing the right ankle socks, and not wearing makeup. Catholic schools discipline is not extreme. If a student becomes in trouble, the instructor would call the parents, there is not detention. Catholic school is very conservative. Catholic schools have certain numbers of students, so they are not exposed to different types of people. Catholic school held a high reputation on how students should act in class. Being Catholic was very important in the school, and if not Catholic the students would judge the non- Catholic. Public school is opened to people with different preferences. The open mindedness of Public schools allows students to

The world is not what it used to be, people do not surround their lives around religion anymore, especially youth. There are so many other pressing topics that are circulating the world today that religion is no longer in the spotlight. Therefore, since times are changing rapidly, education systems should follow. Realistically speaking, students are not as devoted Catholics as the Catholic school expects them to be. As someone who has been in a catholic school for my entire life, it is fair to say that my peers do not take the religious aspects of Catholic schools seriously. Mass has commonly become an excuse to skip and sleep in or do other assignments. Religion is considered a “joke class” that students do not care about. Prayers on the announcements have become a great way to waste class time or it is simply boring. Catholics who created the initial catholic schools would be rolling in their graves at the disrespect students give to catholic schools. It is evident that religion no longer fits into the norm of schools. There should be a time and place

It is important for me to attend Bishop McNamara Catholic High School because I want the best possible education I can get in high school. I need to be prepared for college and Bishop McNamara is the school that I feel would best prepare me for my college years. Bishop McNamara is also my ideal school because of the Catholic education I will receive and is very appealing because of the small size, allowing more one-on-one with the teachers.

When driving past the modest copper bricked building topped with a bulky black roof, one might only see it as just a school for children; however, there is so much more to it than what meets the eye. The large black cross that clings to the front entrance wall suggests to its visitants the school’s religious affiliation which is further evidenced by the name “St. Louis” in slate black lettering on the wall parallel to it. St. Louis Catholic School was established in 1964 in Princeton, Illinois as a pre-school through eighth grade elementary school and is still today. It remains the only Catholic elementary school in Bureau Country, making it unique to the area. Although the class sizes tend to be small with regards to the quantity of students, the many experiences that the school provides including the encouragement of creativity, providing a friendly and comfortable classroom environment and the stress on the formation of a loving community live with the students for the majority of their lives.

The identity of a Catholic school is the key variable that sets that school apart from all others, and without a commitment to fostering the Catholic identity, a Catholic school becomes just a school. The Congregation for Catholic Education (1988) cited in Earl (2008) noted that if the Catholic identity "is not present, then there is little left which can make the school Catholic" (p. 197). Integral in developing and maintaining the Catholic identity of a school is the faith formation of both the adults who work in the building, as well as the students who attend. Nourishing the spirituality of these groups is the responsibility of the administration and those who lead the school. However, the faith formation needs of each group are unique, but nonetheless dependent on each other, to form the Catholic identity of the school.

Catholic Schools are educational institutions that are devoted to teaching and developing young individuals under the faith and guidance of Jesus Christ (Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia, 2009). Central to the vision of Catholic schools is the belief that Jesus is in the heart of all young Catholic believers (CECWA, 2009). Therefore in order to fulfil the mission and proclaim the gospel students are required to learn about how to live out the life that God intended through the lessons of Jesus Christ (CECWA, 2009). This paper aims to outline unique features that distinguish Catholic education from that of other educational institutions through linking peer-reviewed sources to a school based analysis. The school that will be

For four long years I felt as if my high school was in a different world in of itself. I had spent that time interacting with an extensive amount of groups, or “cliques”, and getting to know what they do. Through my experiences, I had begun to realize what made this “subculture” high school of sorts run like it did. High school is an incredibly dynamic time for people, and I had changed as a person dramatically from my freshman to senior year. Like many, my freshman year was quite awkward, as remnants of my middle school self remained with me. As time went on, how, I talked to more people and grew out of my passive and shy personality. This did not just randomly happen without reason though. I began to learn and realize who I was and whom I enjoyed talking to in school, which explained why I spent so much time socializing with multiple kinds and groups of people. Everyone’s concept of “normal” was different, and high school was where I learned that lesson and will never forget.

Catholic schools are often thought of as prestiges and vigorous, but how do the students feel about this view on catholic education. The students are the ones that have the

To understand where I am now in relation to Catholic theology I feel that it is appropriate to look back on the thoughts and ideas that I had when I first started this THEO 1001 class. Honestly coming into college I have thought about my faith very little and studied the bible and what it means even less. In my mind I have always thought that theology was primarily a group of people just sitting around reading the bible repeatedly and then coming up with ways on how to interpret certain beliefs and messages in it and what they mean to us as Christians. Now I understand that theology has many more aspects to it than just the one example I gave earlier. The fact that this class was just about Catholic theology doesn’t really have a meaning to me because I haven’t studied other religions or denominations theology. Diving deeper into what I thought about how Catholic theology impacted my life will be a very shallow dive, given that I am neither Catholic or a theologian I honestly thought that this class was going to be a history of how Catholics are the greatest Christians and their way of looking at the bible. Thankfully I was very wrong about both those things and have learned about some very interesting topics throughout the class, one being the fascinating section we did about anthropology and what role it plays into theology.

When you first begin a class you never know what to expect. When I first began Intro to Ministry, I did not know the level of insight that I would have about myself and about the character of God. I have been able to combine the things that have happened in my past and things that are happening now to try to paint God's picture in my life to come. Although you do not need to pinpoint the exact moment in time when you received your call for it to be legible, I am thankful that I do. I think it was a series of people and events unfolding in my life and God opened my eyes to the plans He had for me that lead me to that night. The day that I accepted my calling to be a youth pastor (December 30,2015) I did not go into that evening thinking “I’m going to listen to God and go into Ministry” - but I guess you never do. Since then God has been preparing me emotionally, physically, and mentally through programs that I have gone through, people in my life such as my friends, family, and professors I have gotten to know during the short time that I have been at Indiana Wesleyan. I am nowhere close to being where I want to be but that is the beauty of accepting God's call into any type of ministry, you do not have to have it all figured out, you just have to trust Him.“God is a God of infinite variety, and His call comes to people in many ways.” (Drury, K. Pg.67). I didn’t receive my calling in a damascus road way, instead God knew my heart and character so He gave me my calling in a

Christian Tradition course exposed me to the Christian Tradition based on Biblical and church history. The course taught me the differences and similarities of Christian Tradition from other major world religions. I learned about the significance of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity based on the teachings of the Bible. The course also briefly covered 2,000 years of church history but with emphasis on the impact of the Council of Nicea, Council of Chalcedon, and John and Charles Wesley on Christianity. The professor emphasized the importance of the reformation that sparked a revolution in the church.