Our Faith Education at Bishop Leibold School
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20
This verse from Matthew guides and directs our mission at Bishop Leibold School, for Jesus inspires and guides every dimension of our school. We believe in Christ’s presence in our daily school life. Our philosophy of education, our curriculum, our community life, and expectations of ourselves and one another are centered on Catholic teachings, practices and beliefs.Daily prayer, weekly Mass and service to others are important expressions of our Catholic experience at Bishop Leibold School. Students have religion class every day and are taught by teachers who have been fully certified as catechists by the Archdiocese. Praying of The Rosary, preparation for First Communion, First Reconciliation and Confirmation, recognition of the saints, May Crowning, Living Stations of the Cross, and religious symbols throughout the campuses create a Christ-like environment.
Our faith community of administrators, faculty/staff, students, and parents actively promote and model the Gospel message. We try to become better people and better Catholics by recognizing the individual talents and worth of each other. Serving one another through prayer, study and action are attributes at BLS that allows one to become the best person they can become.
Paul Beyerle, Principal
In Kindergarten, the introduction of many religious concepts is very important as a basis to continue throughout the grades. Early in the year, we learn about Creation, which is our theme for social justice. We learn about all the good things God has made, and begin to see how important it is to thank God for those things. Kindergartners start to realize they are a part of a class and school community, and begin to see our class as an important part of our church community.
Service is begun in Kindergarten as we join in all-school service activities and sponsor some activities to encourage others to share with those less fortunate. Kindergartners give to the homeless, babies in need, donate books, help the hungry, and also help our sister school in Nairobi. We sponsor the Mitten Tree in the winter to collect mittens, hats, and gloves for the homeless. During Lent, kindergartners earn money and encourage the whole school to help hungry children in our community.
We celebrate special church holidays and learn about Jesus’ birth, and also how He gave His life for us and rose to show His love for us. Kindergartners celebrate the saints and especially our class saint, Saint Francis.
We read, sing, and do activities to learn about special Bible stories. We visit the church to listen to God with our hearts. Kindergartners learn many ways to pray and learning their faith through singing, music, poetry, writing, stories, role-playing, hands-on learning and service to others. We learn that God is so good!
In First Grade, the children learn what Jesus taught us about the love God has for us. We learn how we gather in church to worship God and celebrate the sacraments. Our students pray to God every day in many different ways, both alone and with others. Prayer is also integrated by having the children learn the four basic Catholic prayers: The Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Glory Be, and Hail Mary. To prepare the children for Advent they participate in a special pillowcase project to help celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
The Social Justice theme for First Grade is Peace. The children will learn what peace is and how to be a peacemaker. We focus on a book called “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud where the children learn to be “a bucket filler” by expressing daily kindness, appreciation, and love. In this way, the children will help to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through simple acts of love and caring.
Second Grade is a wonderful time in a student’s life at Bishop Leibold, for each embarks on an amazing journey with Jesus. In class, the students gain a much deeper and better understanding of exactly what goes on during Mass, and what each part means. We are so blessed to have a priest and deacon become an active part of our student’s faith journey! The students have many opportunities to visit the Church, guided by our priest or deacon, to help them see and better understand all the wonderful items on and around the altar area. The students receive a personal trip to the sacristy to explore what goes on to prepare Mass. The students learn about and then receive their second sacrament, Reconciliation.
The highlight of our year comes in spring as we prepare for their First Communion. There is in-depth class preparation as well as visits from Father for more discussion, and we have 6th Grade Prayer Pals who help encourage and guide the 2nd Graders throughout their special year. The biggest day of our school year is “Jesus Day”, our retreat day. The morning is spent in church learning in small sessions learning more about Jesus, a meal, and the Eucharist. The afternoon time for personal reflection and time spent with Father. The day is a culmination of everything we have learned, and to deepen our faith as the children await their First Communion Mass.
The Third Grade continues their religious formation with study of the sacraments and a more in-depth study of the Mass and the life of Jesus, Mary, and disciples in the early church. Studies begin with the history of the early Church. We study the life of Jesus: his early years, his teachings, parables, his death and subsequent Resurrection and Ascension. The students learn of the birth of the early church at Pentecost, and the work of the apostles, disciples, and martyrs of the early Christian church.
As the year progresses, the focus of study begins to evaluate the students’ role in their church and parish. The students learn of the establishment of the Catholic Church and “The Four Marks” -- one, holy, catholic and apostolic -- and the role of their parish in the world-wide church community.
Students complete further study on the seven sacraments, and the aspects of respect and reverence for the Eucharist as well as for the Mass itself. Students will know and understand the parts of the Mass, and have the opportunity to plan and participate in the Mass each month. Students will know the timeline of the church calendar and will receive the sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent and Lent. During Lent, third graders spend much time focusing on the story of the Passover, to understand this story in the Jewish tradition and how it correlates to their own Christian faith.
Throughout the year different saints are honored on their feast days. October and May center around Mary and the prayers of the most holy Rosary. Students are responsible for all prayers included in the Rosary’s mysteries, especially memorizing the Apostles’ Creed. All third graders are invited to take part in the October Family Rosary Rally at the University of Dayton. In May, to honor Mary, the third graders lead entire school in the Living Rosary and May Crowning.
Fourth Grade religious instruction revolves around the internalization of our Catholic faith. Why do we celebrate Mass? What does each part of the Mass mean to us? Why and how do we incorporate the Corporal Works of Mercy, the Spiritual Works of Mercy, and the Beatitudes into our daily lives? We do so by presenting the Jesse Tree and the Living Stations of the Cross as prayer services to the East Campus students. We celebrate The Feast of the Guardian Angels with study, prayer, and by planting tulip bulbs on Campus. We make real advent wreaths to be used in our homes. We welcome the Virgin Mary into our hearts by learning about and making Rosaries. Finally we encourage each other to carry Christ in our hearts where ever we go and to whomever we meet.
Fifth Graders will gain an understanding of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church as instituted by Jesus Christ to give us each a share of eternal life with God. They will learn the elements, symbols, and rites of each of the sacraments and should come to a greater appreciation of these beautiful gifts from God that help us to draw closer to Him. Students will also come to understand the Church as a community of believers united by Christ and led by the Holy Spirit on its journey to God the Father. We will explore the roles of all of the members of the Church, the laity, religious, and clergy. We will also focus on vocations, especially vocations to priesthood or religious life, especially during Vocation Awareness Week in January. The different liturgical seasons will be studied throughout the annual cycle of the Liturgical Year.
With the new translation of the Roman Missal, we will be learning the new responses for Mass and why such changes have been made. These new changes in our liturgy should help us all come to a better understanding of the Mass and the richness of our Catholic heritage. The importance of personal and communal prayer will be stressed throughout the school year. With our social justice theme of Poverty, we work to understand how poverty affects so many and how we have a responsibility as people of God to help the poor at home and throughout the world. We will carry out two service projects to provide help the poor in our community.
Sixth Grade religious studies focus on the truths of the Catholic faith found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. The children are introduced to the Bible, the written word of God, beginning with The Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures), there discover God’s covenant relationship with the Hebrew people. Major topics of the New Testament (Christian Scriptures) are explained in the context of the Liturgical Year cycle. Students learn about the liturgical seasons and religious holidays. They also learn the stories of many saints and of the richness of our many Catholic devotions. We will also focus on vocations, especially vocations to priesthood or religious life, throughout the year and especially during Vocation Awareness Week in January.
We will learn the new responses the new translation of the Roman Missal and why such changes have been made. These new changes in our liturgy should help us all come to a better understanding of the Mass and the richness of our Catholic heritage. The importance of personal and communal prayer will be stressed throughout the school year. The children will be required to complete a quarterly prayer assignment based on the four themes of prayer: petition, praise, thanksgiving, and contrition.
Our social justice theme for sixth grade is Solidarity. Through class activities and projects, students will learn that we are all members of one human family throughout the world, no matter what our many differences may be. We have a responsibility to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and to work for peace and justice. Throughout the year, the sixth grade students are paired up with second grade “Prayer Pals” to encourage them and pray for them as they prepare to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.
Seventh Grade religion classes focus on living our faith as disciples of Jesus. We center our teaching on Jesus’ life, his teachings, and the sacraments he instituted. Our program presents Jesus’ call to each person to become his disciple and the ways in which his teachings, his sacraments, and his Church nourish people for discipleship. We begin with the concept of who God is by focusing on The Creed and Divine Revelation, and then learn about Jesus by studying the gospels and Church teaching. We look to the present and examine on how Jesus Christ is alive in our Church today by doing an intense study of the Sacraments and the liturgy, especially looking at the changes in the Roman Missal. We delve into how the Church lives as the Body of Christ, looking at Catholic social doctrine and vocations.
Our goal in seventh grade religion is for our students to be able to answer the basic question of our faith, “Who is God?” When Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” He wanted them to go beneath surface impressions to the heart of the matter. Jesus refused to accept their superficial unreflective answers. We, like Jesus, want our young disciples to answer this important question with personal conviction, commitment, and hope by saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
The Eighth Grade religion course focuses on two very broad topics: Church History and Morality. In this Church History course, students learn how the world of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ’s resurrection lent itself to the phenomenal growth of Christianity. Students move through the periods in which Christians were perceived as a threat and persecuted, then embraced and recognized, only to be challenged by Barbarian invasions, aided by monastic evangelism, and subsequently struck by a schism within the Church. We address the failure of the Crusades, the Avignon papacy and the Renaissance Church. We study both the Protestant and the Counter Reformations and look at the influence of Catholicism in the New World. While studying the history of the Church, contemporary issues facing the Church will not be ignored; in fact, The Catechism of the Catholic Church is frequently referenced.
The subject of morality has been a theme of religion class in all previous grade levels at Bishop Leibold School. More than the property of rightness in conduct or ethics, morality is a matter of becoming the human beings that God created us to be. Christian morality is an invitation to become part of the most graced and promising life possible, and about authentic happiness and rich, lasting loves. As we study morality, we learn about the beliefs, values, virtues, rules, and principles we need to know to do good in our actions and to be good in our live -- to become just, faith-filled, honest persons of goodness and character. This course emphasizes that telling the truth, living justly, developing our consciences, and keeping our promises are the elements allowing us to grow as human beings, created in the image and likeness of God.
