December 20, 2004

1.    Principal Candidates:  The Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, is accepting applications for the position of principal for Nativity Catholic School, Brandon, Florida.  Brandon is located in a growth area of eastern Hillsborough County.  The school is the largest elementary school in the diocese with over 700 students in grades Pre-K
through 8.  A successful candidate must be a practicing Catholic with a minimum of five years of successful administrative experience as a principal in a Catholic school.  A candidate must have earned a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and corresponding Florida certification.  If the candidate does not possess Florida certification, he/she should be in a position to obtain such.
        Salary and benefits are commensurate with those approved by the Diocese of St. Petersburg.  Interested candidates should write a letter to request an application to:
                Search Process-Nativity Catholic School
                Office of Catholic Schools & Centers
                PO Box 40200
                St. Petersburg, Florida   33743-0200

2.    Elementary Principal Opening:  The pastor of Saint Francis School, Newark will begin a search for a principal of the school beginning school year 2005-06.  Interested candidates must be active, practicing Catholics and must possess - or be eligible for - appropriate Ohio administrative licensure.
        The Administrative application is available on-line at www.education.org.  Application deadline is January 21.

3.    Preschool Director Wanted:  St. Edward the Confessor Church in Granville will open a school-year Preschool program (3 and 4 year olds) in September of 2005.  The parish is seeking a Director who meets state requirements, would be able to start part-time in January 2005 for registration and program start-up, and then become full-time in July, 2005.  The Director will have full managerial responsibilities for the program and act as the lead teacher.  Please contact Mike Millisor, Pastoral Associate
(740-587-4160) to discuss details, and send resume to St. Edward, 785 Newark Rd., Granville, OH    43023.

4.    Educational Opportunities
Boston College:  Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry:
        Scholarship - IREPM has received a three-year grant  of $275,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation to support its new master's degree concentration in Total Community Catechesis (TCC), which will be offered beginning fall 2005.  The fellowships cover up to 100% tuition for the 41-credit degree and provides a living expense stipend for each of the two years that the student is enrolled full-time.  IREPM has been a national leader in TCC, a new, comprehensive approach to faith formation that engages the traditional structures of society -family, congregation and community- in the holistic and communal practice of Catholic faith.
        For additional information and application materials, contact Chris Kowalcky at 617-552-4075 or e-mail Chris at christine.kowalcky@bc.edu.

        Continuing Education - January 10 - February 25:  'Online Continuing Education Course:  What Makes Us Catholic?'  with Thomas Groome and Barbara Radtke; Fee:  $75.00; the only technical requirement is that participants be able to access the internet.
        Join Professors Tom Groome and Barbara Radtke for a four-week, guided, online discussion of Groome's book, 'What Makes Us Catholic?'  The course will utilize the written text, four video segments with Tom and Barbara, and other resources to stimulate discussion.  Each participant will be assigned to a 'community of conversation,' - a small online discussion group for conversation and faith sharing.
        To register on-line for this course see http://www.bc.edu/schools/gsas/irepm/continuinged/registration/
        For a complete listing of IREPM continuing education offerings see  http://www.bc.edu/schools/gsas/irepm/continuinged/calendar/

5.    Weekly Religion Ideas - GCS Objectives:  II B:1 A:4
        Teachers - Even if St. Nicholas Day has passed it is important to keep Christ in the season.  This website provides wonderful resources to explore the true gift of the season, Jesus.
        St. Nicholas Center is a virtual center, a website, where people can learn about St. Nicholas; it provides resources for families, churches, and schools.  The vision is to educate people of faith, and the wider public, about the true St Nicholas, and why he is important in today's world.
        St. Nicholas, lover of the poor and of children, is a model of how Christians are meant to live.  As priest, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life and ministry.  His concern for children and others in need or danger expressed a love for God which points toward Jesus, the source of true caring and comparing.  Embracing St. Nicholas customs can help recover the true center of Christmas - the birth of Jesus.  www.stnicholascenter.org
        -What are the names of the three kings?  When are the 12 days of Christmas?  What are the other feast days and holy days during the Christmas season?
        The American Catholic website provides the answers for these questions and others that may be asked by the children in our programs.  In addition you can find Advent reflections and many resources for this season. 
www.americancatholic.org

        Classroom - A Tree for Christmas by Dandi Daley
-What do you say when children ask,  "Why do we have Christmas trees?"  Well this book will be able to help answer that question.  The surprise is that the story is not only about Christmas.  It is the story of Jesus' life with the role of the tree woven through it all.  This book offers a fresh new Christmas story for the family. 
Concordia Publishing:  www.cph.org or 1-800-325-3040

-"Who Am I?" is a great classroom game that can be played with grades 2-12.  You will need to adjust the rules to suit the age group.  This game can be found in the Catechist issue for November/December; however, below is a brief description of the game.
        1.    Take a Nativity story and identify all the characters, places and things. 
                (May need to add a few extras if you have a large class)
        2.    Write these on long strips of paper
        3.    Read the story to your students
        4.    Have the students draw a slip of paper without looking
        5.    Tape it to their back
        6.    Then have the students come up one at a time and ask "Who Am I?"
        7.    Have the other students give clues but no animal sounds or specific
                 descriptors (Example:  You are a town!) 

Comments to office@cdeducation.org

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