Thank you to all the parents, students, catechists, staff and benefactors that make religious education possible here at St. Ann Parish.  As we enter Advent, here is an update with photos of each class.  We plan to do three of these updates per year.
- Bobby Kinkela, Director of Religious Ed & Heather Hakman, Safe Environment Coordinator

Good Shepherd 3-7 year-olds: Catechists - Phyllis Kalkowski & Mary Martin.
We have been working on gestures and the sign of the cross. The children have been making many booklets especially on sheep on the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd parable is a core work because we want children to understand that Jesus is the shepherd and we are the sheep.

First Holy Communion: Children have been focusing on the altar work.  Here we have been recognizing Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

3rd-4th grade: Catechist - Kathy Truitt.
Studying about God as Creator of the world and man. God makes promises with His people right from the start as Adam and Eve son and are forced to leave the Garden. God continues to promise to forgive them and to care for all mankind. This is shown in Cain and Abel--Isaac and his sons, Esau and Jacob--Jacob with his 11 sons and his favorite son, Joseph.
We are also constantly studying the Ten Commandments. We have covered the spiritual importance of prayer intentions (praying for others) and learning the Our Father,  Hail Mary, and Glory Be. 


5th-6th Grade: Catechists - Mary Smoker & Laura Bodary.
We have been talking about how prayer should be a part of our lives every day. The First Commandment calls on us to pray regularly. Vocal, meditative, and contemplative are three ways to pray. The rosary is an 800 year-old prayer. The Mass is the highest form of prayer.
Before and after All Saints Day, we discussed how everyone in heaven is a saint. We call the saints in heaven the Church Triumphant because they have grasped the final prize which is God himself. We can pray to the saints to intercede with God for us.



7th and 8th Grades Co-Catechists - Maura Campbell & Mary Johnson.
Mrs. Campbell is happy to be back this year to teach catechism and knows many of the students from being a co-catechist last year.  Mary Johnson is a new teacher and a new parishioner at St. Ann's.  For these past months, we have been rolling up our sleeves and using the catechism book to do an in-depth study of the Ten Commandments.  We have also been learning about the sacraments with a recent focus on confirmation (as Mary Johnson made her confirmation on October 29th, 2023).  We have studied the Holy Trinity with special focus on the Holy Spirit.  We enjoyed the Eucharistic Miracles Exhibit as a class activity.  We will be studying All Hallows' Eve (All Saints' Eve), All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day.  Father Pinto is going to come to class to show us how he blesses water to make holy water.  We have been having a lot of fun sharing personal stories in the Catholic church and reviewing "Catholic vocab words" in general.  We are a lively class and one thing is for sure: We love JESUS!!!



Bonfire photos from November 8th:



Thanks to our benefactors: Thank you to all who support St Ann Parish.  Through your generosity, we're able to provide religious education for 3 year-olds to high school students, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, adult education, speakers, and meals.  Our weekly meals ended November 15th, but we'll have a couple more special events throughout the year.  Thank you all who cooked and provided the meals.  We appreciate all of your support.
Special thanks to Cathie Crescent, our hall monitor.  From fire drills, to helping teachers, to cleaning up at the end of the night to helping to keep order and professionalism with the students, we thank Cathie for her support.