Owosso’s St. Paul School takes on an international flavor thanks to three visitors

By Brandi Schueller
Special to The Catholic Times

OWOSSO — The majority of students who attend St. Paul School are from the surrounding area.

This year, however, the fourth grade has an international flavor, thanks to three new boys from South Korea.

Ben Park Won-Woong, Andy Lee Hyung-Woo and Charlie Lee Ji-Hoon, all from Ulsan, South Korea, will spend the year in the U.S. thanks to Scott and Stephanie Lahmann of Owosso. The Lahmanns spent the past year teaching English at Boston Prep, an after-school academy in Ulsan. (more…)

CLARE — Nine young people from St. Cecilia Parish — Emily Yob, Katie Warner, Vincent Gray, Brittany Fields, Ethan Hall, Samantha Gray, Duane Hall, Joel Wamer and Marilyn Gray — were among the more than 400 youth and adults from the Diocese of Saginaw who accompanied Bishop Joseph R. Cistone to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life on Monday, Jan. 23. In the rain, the group marched from the National Mall to the steps of the Supreme Court to protest the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The following are what some of the St. Cecilia youth had to say about their experiences: (more…)

Declining enrollment, red ink force Adrian Dominicans to close St. Joseph Academy

ADRIAN — The Adrian Dominican sisters announced Tuesday, Feb. 7, that St. Joseph Academy, founded in 1896 by the sisters on their home grounds in northeast Adrian, and the Montessori Children’s House, founded in 1971 at the academy, will close at the end of the 2011-12 academic year.

The congregation cited declining enrollment and multiple-year deficit budgeting as the reasons to close the institution after 115 years of educating tens of thousands of children — Catholic and non-Catholic, ages pre-school through high school, and from Lenawee County and beyond. The Adrian Dominican sisters are the corporate sponsors of the academy. (more…)

Jessica Coffelt (left) joins Sr. Roselyn Nichols, S.S.M., and Dr. Angel Valdez of FUMSIL to examine an ambulance Coffelt acquired for the border region of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Courtesy photo

By Jeff Wack
The Catholic Times

PINCKNEY — St. Mary School graduate Jessica Coffelt embodies a life lived in service to others.

The 2001 St. Mary grad, while attending college, got involved with FUMSIL (the Fundación Mariana San Isidro Labrador), a nonprofit organization that operates along the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. FUMSIL is governed by the Catholic parish St. Isidore the Laborer in the province of Eli’as Pin’a and is a provider of health care, nutritional, religious and educational assistance to more than 25,000 people. (more…)

Quiz Bowl teams from Bay City All Saints, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy and Saginaw's Nouvel Catholic Central high schools competed in front of the staff and students from Sacred Heart Academy and television cameras, which streamed the event live over the Internet.

By Mark Haney
The Catholic Weekly

MOUNT PLEASANT — On a stage, in front of television cameras and classmates, students from the Diocese of Saginaw’s three high schools tested their knowledge of the Church and the faith.

And the team from Sacred Heart Academy in Mount Pleasant, riding the efforts of its freshman-sophomore group, won the day, with 625 points. Saginaw’s Nouvel Catholic Central was second with 415 points, thanks to a second-half surge by its junior-senior group (freshmen and sophomores competed in the first half, juniors and seniors in the second). Bay City All Saints was third with 223 points in the inaugural Quiz Bowl on Friday, Feb. 3, at Sacred Heart. (more…)

Author: Bring your beliefs to work every day and let them keep you in balance

By Ann Seebaldt
The Catholic Times

ANN ARBOR — Integrating deeply held values into the workplace is not easy, but it is worth the effort.

That was the message delivered Friday, Feb. 3, by Margaret Benefiel at St. Francis of Assisi Parish’s fifth annual Business Breakfast Forum, “Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations.”

Benefiel offers consulting, coaching and spiritual direction for leaders and organizations as executive officer of Executive Soul, is an adjunct faculty member of Andover Newton Theological School in Boston and is the author of “Soul and Work” and “The Soul of the Leader” as well as co-editor of “Soul of Supervision.”

She speaks from personal experience. In her case, Benefiel said, she felt as though she was “losing my own soul,” which was rather disturbing for a theology school’s faculty member. (more…)

Sanford parish keeps contact with students, those in military service

By Mark Haney
The Catholic Weekly

SANFORD — When away at college, or serving in the military, there’s nothing to match a package from home.

The people who serve on the Christian Service Commission at St. Agnes Parish realize this. That is why, each January the parish offers to send a care package to parishioners’ sons and daughters away at college or serving in the military.

St. Agnes has been doing this for three years, said Ruth Diebold, a member of the Christian Service Commission. (more…)

Three bishops — Lansing’s Earl Boyea (left) plus Archbishop Allen Vigneron (center) and Michael Byrnes (right) of Detroit — joined numerous priests at St. John the Baptist Church in Ypsilanti on Saturday, Jan. 21, for Janet Smith’s consecration.

Ypsilanti parishioner becomes consecrated virgin through a special rite

By Mark Haney
The Catholic Times

YPSILANTI — Surrounded by female co-workers in the gathering area of St. John the Baptist Church, Janet Smith sounded like any other woman who has had to dress up for an occasion.

She was talking about the miraculous find of this amazing dress suit and the shoes that match, all of them off the shelf at a major department store.

But where that might have been something said by the mother of a bride or a groom at a wedding, or the mother of a recent high school or college graduate on the big day, Saturday, Jan. 21, was something entirely different for Smith. (more…)

Sr. Janet Fulgenzi, safe environmental coordinator for the Diocese of Saginaw (left), and Cathy Cregeur, director of religious education at St. Columbkille at Sheridan Corners, discuss the Think First and Stay Safe! child lures prevention program during a recent program at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Ubly. Debbie Oglenski/Catholic Weekly

By Debbie Oglenski
The Catholic Weekly

UBLY — Those working in Faith Formation programs in the Upper Thumb recently learned more about a program to help keep children safe from predatory crimes.

During a visit to St. John the Evangelist Parish, Sr. Janet Fulgenzi, the safe environment coordinator for the Diocese of Saginaw, presented materials and explained the Think First and Stay Safe! program, which arms students with information they need to protect themselves from the common lures used by predators. The goal, Sr. Fulgenzi said, is not to scare children, but to teach them what they can do to identify lures and action to take if those lures are dangled in front of them, thereby better protecting themselves.

The program, which includes material for preschool through grade 12 students, identifies 17 categories of lures, addressing lures that occur in person and online. Among them are the lost pet, bribery, name recognition, fun and games, threats, drugs and pornography. A parent guide provides information for parents in helping to protect their children and teens from abuse and abduction.

Sr. Fulgenzi said it is an inclusive and multi-cultural from the beginning, as demonstrated by the cover on the material, with the depiction of five children, boys and girls, of various backgrounds, linked arm and arm.

In her presentation, Sr. Fulgenzi played a video showing four common lures used; did an overview of the parent guides for youth and teens; distributed the materials, including age-appropriate posters and showed an example of workbooks for younger children.

“I can mandate you do it; but adapt it to your need,” she told those in attendance.

The program is mandatory throughout the Diocese of Saginaw. It has been used since 2003 in all the Catholic schools. Until recently, it was understood that the Michigan Model for Health Education used in public schools was providing this training to children. Sr. Fulgenzi recently learned that not all public schools were offering this training annually, so faith formation programs have been mandated to do so.

“Every parish should begin this year,” Sr. Fulgenzi said.

The Think First and Stay Safe! Program was written by Ken Wooden, a practicing Catholic. The father and grandfather, who has appeared on several television programs, interviewed convicted child predators to determine what lures they used on their victims. Wooden, a former teacher and investigative reporter, offers concrete, practical information and terminology to adults to use in talking to their children and in educating children.

“It is a well-researched program,” Sr. Fulgenzi said.

For example, younger children learn it is against the law for anyone to touch you in your bathing suit area — exceptions include a doctor’s visit with a parent or guardian present or bath time for young children; the difference between fake love and real love; and not keeping secrets from your parents involving other adults.
In addition, the Diocese of Camden, N.J., has a faith formation component that complements Wooden’s materials. The material includes an opening prayer, Scripture, saint or hero, closing prayer, suggested music and a Church teaching.

If a parent doesn’t want a child to participate they may sign a date a letter indicating such. Sr. Fulgenzi said since 2003, when the program was first implemented in the diocese, only one parent has opted out.

For some in attendance, who were not teachers by profession, a big question was how to handle a situation if a child comes up to them in catechism class and says someone has done something to them. The answer, Sr. Fulgenzi said, is to report it immediately to Child Protective Services.

By Fr. Steven Mattson
Special to The Catholic Times

Every January, the Catholic Church in America celebrates Catholic Schools Week.

During this week, the Church pauses to reflect with gratitude on the great legacy of faith and learning that our schools have provided. Education long has been a central part of the ministry of the Catholic Church in America. From their beginning, Catholic schools have been an expression of our mission to spread the Good News to children, their families and to the broader community. (more…)