1 2 mrsliljeberg@stischoolcypress.org Here is my school email - - PDF document

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mrsliljeberg@stischoolcypress.org Here is my school email address 3

Our school began to implement a formal stewardship curriculum during the 2011‐ 2012 school year. I became the school stewardship coordinator the following year. I was not one of the teachers who had attended a workshop on stewardship, and I was looking for some guidance. An article by Susan Erschen, who served as the director of stewardship education in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was extremely helpful to me personally. The article is called Teaching Stewardship to Children: The Greatest Lesson We Can Impart. She really outlines why it is so important to explicitly teach the concept of stewardship to our children. 4

In her article, Susan gives four reasons why stewardship could be the greatest lesson we teach our children. It help builds self esteem by assuring children that God has already blessed them with everything they need. Today children and adults are inundated with the message that we are not worthwhile unless we have the right possessions: the latest clothes and gadgets. There will always be something newer and better, and living your life constantly wanting the next best thing is a life

• f discontent. We can help our children find contentment by teaching them that

they already have what they need to do the special work God has planned for them. Stewardship teaches children to turn to God for guidance, to ask “How do care for my gifts and share them?” This teaches children the importance of placing trust in God’s plan. It fosters a habit of asking God what to do, instead of telling God what you want. Furthermore, when children find joy in giving, they become lifelong

• givers. Children have the ability and the desire to give. It makes them feel important

and needed. We want to provide opportunities to serve during their formative years so that they become adults who embrace stewardship as a way of life. 5

Since stewardship is an attitude, a way of life, we must address it differently than

• ther curricular areas. We must talk about stewardship at every opportunity, not

just during religion class, to help form a frame of mind that is always considering how to give. Our ultimate goal is to have children who become God’s stewards, not to just learn about stewardship, but to live it. Yes we must teach our children what stewardship is, but then we must provide opportunities to put it into practice. Whenever children participate in any stewardship activity, time should be built into the project to reflect on the experience. It can be journaling, a class discussion, sharing in front of the group. We had a project once for Ronald McDonald House where students didn’t just bring in items to donate, they also were asked to share with their classmates what chores they performed to earn the donated items. Students in my class were obviously proud of their efforts. Every day after morning prayer, students who had items to donate stood in front of the class and shared a picture they had drawn and colored depicting their chore. Reflecting reinforces the idea that giving to others can make us feel better than buying for ourselves can. 6

Stewardship is a biblically based way of life. It is important that we and our children are aware of this, and that the connection is reinforced by reading and reflecting on stewardship Gospel stories, such as the Good Samaritan, the Vigilant and Faithful Servants, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Parable of the Talents, The Widow’s Mite, the Prodigal Son, the Beatitudes, and the Judgment of the Nations. In our junior high, students are asked to apply the Parable of the Talents to life by taking “seed money” and choosing a charity to receive the proceeds. Our students take the recyclables from students’ lunches, and they take turns exchanging them for money. They have used the money to feed families at Thanksgiving, or they send money to a student they have pledged to support feeding and educating. They exchange letters with this student, so there is a personal connection that motivates them to share what they have from their allowances as well. This is an ongoing effort by our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. 7

My school has adopted the curriculum developed by The Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri. It is called Stewardship: Living Out Discipleship, A Stewardship Curriculum Guide and Lesson Plans. St. Irenaeus Parish School serves students in grades K‐8. This curriculum has lessons for each of these grade levels, as well as for high school students. In grades K‐8, most lessons address the same topic. My school decided to assign a topic to each month, however each classroom teacher does have the ability to teach a lesson when it is most beneficial to the students. 8

For example, every grade can start in October with “Understand and demonstrate the role of disciple” and most teachers will always begin with this topic. On the

• ther hand, some teachers might move “Learn how to be a steward of creation”

which falls in January, closer to Earth day. At our school we find it works best to be flexible about when each teacher schedules a topic. We are consistent in that each teacher is expected to teach one topic a month, October through May. However, it doesn’t have to be done that way, it is just the plan that we have for our school. When we first purchased the curriculum, each teacher received a binder with information about stewardship in the front, and overview of what was being taught at each grade level, and then the lessons for their particular grade, the grade below them and the grade above them. 9

Looking at that first benchmark again, “Understand and demonstrate the role of disciple” it is the same every year in each grade. The indicators change as students mature. 10

Each lesson gives an approximate teaching time. Personally I extend each lesson

• ver a few days by finding other materials to reinforce the lesson and by having my

students keep a stewardship journal to reflect on each theme. However I would imagine that for an SRE teacher who is meeting with students once a week, and who has other material to cover, the basic lessons provided would be enough. Each lesson plans lists the materials needed, the process for teaching, and gives parent

• connections. It provides a summary, cross curricular ideas, and other resources.

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The second benchmark is for students to be aware of the scriptural foundation of

• stewardship. In second grade students read about how Noah was a steward of

God’s creation. They re‐enact the story of the Good Samaritan, and then they act

• ut scenarios from modern life. The children practice their scenarios and then they

perform them in front of the class. In one a Gardner asks three students to help water the garden. The first two students make excuses, but the third is willing and enthusiastic to help. 12

The third benchmark helps students recognize that God gives us each unique gifts. In fifth grade students read the story of Stone Soup. In first grade I read an article to my students about a man who builds incredible sand castles depicting imagery from Bible stories. I address this idea again during Catholic schools week when we discuss choosing a religious life. I again remind students of being grateful for their unique abilities in the springtime when we have our school talent show. 13

In seventh grade students are expected to define a steward of creation, understand the concept of God’s creative power, understand how God made humans the stewards of creation, appreciate the uniqueness of each individual, understand how we are co‐partners with God in his creative work, and determine ways to conserve resources. 14

How is hospitality a form of stewardship? In fifth grade students identify ways Jesus showed hospitality. They learn to recognize that hospitality is a form of stewardship and identify ways to be welcoming and hospitable to others. 15

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“Children must recognize that every single thing they have comes from God. God is in charge, they are not. So God gets credit for what they have or do not have. Children need to hear this often and in many situations. As children fully understand this, some of the pressure they feel to have so much will begin to wane. We can reinforce this concept by always reminding children that God gets credit for all they have. Asking children to bring in pictures or write stories about the gifts God has given them is one way to teach this concept.”‐Susan Erschen Stewardship can be talked about all across the curriculum. In social studies we learn about the difference between a want and a need. This is lesson taught in first grade social studies whether you attend Catholic school or not. But in my Catholic classroom I can go beyond teaching that the three needs are food, shelter, and

• clothing. I can tell my students that shoes are a need, but a specific brand is a want.

I can tell my students that they will never have all that they want, but God does give them all they need. Anytime you are doing artwork, or singing with students, you can make the connection to nurturing talents. The first picture shows Sara painting. She is actually creating a place value caterpillar for math. Math is a great time to talk about tithing. There are four broad categories that we can call treasures from

• God. The first is money. Whether it is money that arrives as a literal gift or money

that we work to earn, money and the ability to earn it are gifts from God. Mastering the flow of money in and out of our lives not only helps with financial independence, but happiness as well. We can help our students with this concept 19

during math, during the unit on money. This past Friday, during our first grade retreat

• n the Mass, we practiced putting money in envelopes and putting the envelopes in

baskets, and carrying the baskets up to the altar as an offering. I have placed articles in our principal’s newsletter encouraging parents to help their children divide all monetary gifts and allowances into three categories: spending money, money to save, and money for God. That way when there is an opportunity to give, children have their own money to contribute. 19

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I want to talk about the importance of putting into action what is being taught with the curriculum. Before we had a stewardship curriculum we had many service projects, but adding the curriculum has shaped and influenced our projects over the past few years. Initially we thought that each month, a different grade would lead the entire school in a service project. Some grades already had projects that were successful, and so not everything was new. After that year we surveyed the students and reflected on our successes and struggles and decided not to try and squeeze our service into “A Project a Month.” Instead we looked at who we are as a community and have worked on how to improve what we have done in the past, and be responsive to service projects that come from the heart. An ongoing program we have is “Peacemakers” which is a group of students who go through a training program on helping their peers work through difficulties on the playground. They wear special shirts so students in a dispute know who to approach for help. These students also go around to each classroom and talk to students about how to work things out peacefully and they leave a poster with each class after the lesson. In her article Susan Erschen emphasizes the need to ask God for guidance in how to use our gifts, and while she was referring to what the children need to learn, I think it was something that the teachers learned as well. As we help the students find service projects, we must be guided by the Holy Spirit. 21

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Practicing stewardship is a lot like developing other talents and skills. You have to take little steps over and over until they become habits. One way to ensure this happens is to adopt a formal curriculum for teaching stewardship to the children in your parish. 25

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