Volume 8, Issue 9
December 7, 2009
Tomorrow, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary,
Patroness of the United States of America
We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.
With these words, spoken in 1854, Pope Pius IX, in the Papal Bull Ineffabilis Dei , declared Mary's Immaculate Conception to be dogma. Pius did not invent the concept. Rather, he was affirming a belief held by many Christians that came before him, from East and West, that Mary was conceived free of the stain of original sin, on account of Christ's work. God caused this Immaculate Conception in order to render Mary a pure vessel to bear God-made-flesh.
Message from the Secretary for Education/Superintendent
St. Charles Borromeo wrote the message I share below . Catholic Online ( www.catholiconline.org ) has asked that this message and its Advent Web site be shared with you. It is a fitting reminder of the holy season that is meant to prepare us for the threefold coming of Christ: historically as a baby, as the Real Presence in Holy Communion, and as Judge and King in the final coming.
Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery - that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. She urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us. Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.
In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.
Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us. This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; his power has still to be communicated to us all. We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us, and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.
The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.
In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice or ritual, used by the Holy Spirit. She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing, and how to gain its benefit: our hearts should be as much prepared for the coming of Christ as if he were still to come into this world. The same lesson is given us for our imitation by the words and example of the holy men of the Old Testament.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online)
FOX8 Catholic Schools Awareness Campaign 2010
Message About Our New Partner…Ohio Catholic Federal Credit Union
The newly announced partnership between the Cleveland Diocesan Office of Catholic Education and Ohio Catholic Federal Credit Union (OCFCU) is one that will provide significant support for Catholic Education. The OCFCU, founded in 1954, is a $140 million dollar organization that serves over 17,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Cleveland. It is a full-service financial institution providing a full range of financial products and services to its members. OCFCU presently operates five offices within the Diocese.
In this school year alone, Ohio Catholic Federal Credit Union provided over 1,200 loans totaling over $5.6 million dollars to support Catholic elementary and high school education. Additionally, their tuition forgiveness and scholarship programs have provided over $10,000 in financial assistance to families in our system of Catholic Schools.
The mission of OCFCU is to provide financial products, services and solutions to the Catholic community, Catholic schools and parishes within the Diocese of Cleveland. As a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, it derives its values from the Catholic faith. OCFCU believes in the basic equality of people and takes pride in its diverse product offerings, member service, and competitive pricing. As a faith-based credit union, Ohio Catholic will continue to follow the motto “Not for profit, not for charity, but for service,” as it seeks to better serve its members and communities.
To learn more about Ohio Catholic, please call 1.216.663.6800, toll free at 1.800.696.4462 or via the Web at www.ohiocatholicfcu.com
Catholic Schools Week: Special Tab in Universe Bulletin
You will be receiving a mailing from Jan Ravas requesting you to update your school information for the All-Schools Directory in the Universe Bulletin’s special tab for Catholic Schools Week. Please do not confuse this with any correspondence from David Sarosy of the UB Office regarding placing an ad in the special tab. They are two separate items and must be attended to separately. A prompt return to Jan of your updated information is extremely important. Call her at ext. 2830 or e-mail her at jravas@dioceseofcleveland.org if you have any questions.
Reminders from the Diocesan Vocation Office
Each year, the Diocesan Vocation Office offers a program for seventh and eighth grade students at the Center for Pastoral Leadership (CPL) in Wickliffe. The girls and boys will have the opportunity to meet and dialogue with priests, seminarians, sisters and brothers. The day will include an introduction of the CPL, prayer, tour of the CPL, discussion, question and answer time, prayer service, and lunch.
Discovery Days are held from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The cost is $6.00 per student, payable to the Center for Pastoral Leadership. PSR classes and Youth Groups are encouraged to call the Diocesan Vocation Office to arrange programs for an evening or weekend. Please note, there should be a two-month advance notice for any requests.
Discovery Days are on Tuesdays
January 26, 2010
February 9, 2010
February 23, 2010
March 9, 2010
March 23, 2010
April 13, 2010
Other important dates:
Vocation Awareness Week, Theme: Baptized in the Spirit
January 10-16, 2010
World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life
February 7, 2010
World Day of Prayer for Vocations
April 25, 2010
Congratulations, Mrs. Barry, Ohio Lottery Teacher of the Month
Mrs. Marianne Barry, Grade 4 teacher was chosen Ohio Lottery teacher of the month for December. The Teacher of the Month Award recognizes outstanding teachers for their dedication, professionalism, and work on behalf of the State’s young people. Each month, the Ohio Lottery recognizes a different teacher based on contributions to his/her school, excellence in the classroom, leadership abilities, citizenship, community involvement and a variety of other criteria. For more information on how to nominate a teacher click on the underlined phrase above.
Elementary School Staffing and Tuition Information 2009-2010
At the request of the Pastors’ Advisory Committee, the Office of Catholic Education sent this information to Pastors, Parish Life Coordinators and Ecclesiastical Liaisons with the intention of it being shared by Pastors with their Principals. It is the annual information regarding salaries for principals and teachers and information for budgeting. If you didn’t receive a copy, please request that your pastor make one available to you.
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Schools in the Diocese Among Top 114 Ohio High Schools on OGT, 3/2009
There were 1,005 schools included in the analysis completed by Scott Gerber of Gerber Analytics, LLC, that examined Ohio’s public, private and charter schools together. The report is comprehensive with many links that provide detailed analysis. Schools that had 91% or higher of their 10 th grade students pass all five portions of the test are listed in his 114. Schools from the Diocese of Cleveland are:
Our Lady of the Elms – 98%
Our Lady of the Elms also has the distinction of being in the top ten schools in writing and science: 22% achieved Advanced in WRITING; 89% Accelerated and Above and 67% Advanced in SCIENCE.
Magnificat – 98%
Walsh Jesuit – 97%
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin – 97%
St. Vincent – St. Mary – 96%
St. Ignatius – 96%
Padua Franciscan – 95%
Archbishop Hoban – 94%
St. Edward – 92%
Beaumont – 92%
St. Joseph Academy – 92%
Elyria Catholic – 92%
We congratulate these schools and their students on their achievement. Complete results may be accessed at www.GerberAnalytics.com. You will find all of our schools’ results there. They are divided according to the OHSAA leagues. They also did very well on the OGT, but did not meet this analyst’s criterion of 91%.
January Thaw: Fire Up
The twelfth annual “January Thaw: Fire Up” Conference is scheduled for Saturday, January 23, 2010, at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron. This catechetical conference is sponsored by the Southern Area Catechetical Leaders of the Diocese of Cleveland in association with the Diocesan Office of Catechetical Services. Dr. Michael Carotta, author and nationally renowned speaker will keynote. The conference offers 26 sessions for Parish and School Catechetical Leaders, Youth Ministers, Catechists, Teachers, RCIA Teams, and interested adult Catholics. This year’s Thaw also includes a retreat option facilitated by Andy Kereky and VIRTUS Orientation.
Materials for the annual January Thaw have been placed on the Office of Catechetical Services Web site: http://www.oce-ocs.org/ocs. Registration materials along with an online registration option are now available. Participants are encouraged to register early to take advantage of the early-bird registration fee.
For additional information, call the Southern Area Office of Catechetical Services at 330-773-7621 or contact pflaherty@dioceseofcleveland.org.
NCEA Convention Reminder
The 2010 NCEA Convention and Expo will take place from April 6-8, 2010 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota. This year NCEA, the NPCD Convocation and CLA Convention will all be together under one roof at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
For more information about this year’s convention, please refer to the 2010 Convention Web pages at http://www.ncea.org/events/NCEAMinneapolisCentral.asp.
Offerings from the Society for Prevention of Violence
The Ready–To–Use Social Studies Lessons and Activities – a systematic way to develop positive social behaviors in students at all levels of ability and grade. The full series includes over 250 tested lessons and reproducible worksheets within four volumes, each tailored to the developmental needs of students at a particular grade level: Pre-K-K, 1-3, 4-6, and 7-12.
The lessons, activities, and practice worksheets are based on real-life situations and help build children’s self-esteem, self-control, respect for others, and a sense of responsibility for one’s own actions.
Each volume includes an introduction to the curriculum and lesson format, brief guidelines “To the Teacher” for using the activities most effectively, reproducible Task Review Cards for circle-time class discussions, and a Family Training Booklet addressed to parents with suggestions for teaching social skills at home (in books Pre-K to 6). The cost is $29.95 per book (plus shipping and handling).
The Ready–To–Use Violence Prevention Skills, Lessons and Activities – a ready–to–use curriculum focusing on a wide range of contemporary topics such as stimulant use, family relationships, dealing with anger, managing threatening situations, and gang-related activities. The lessons will build character, prepare students to recognize potentially violent situations, avoid danger, and teach them the skills needed to handle conflicts in a non-violent and peaceful manner. The series includes two volumes with over 90 lessons and about twice that many reproducible worksheets. The volumes are tailored to the developmental needs of students at two different grade levels: Elementary and Secondary. The elementary volume includes the Family Training Booklet. The cost is $29.95 per book (plus shipping and handling).
For more information:
Call: 216.591.1876; Email: spvmail@att.net; Web site: http://spvmail.home.att.net
Looking for a Workshop in Classroom Management or Violence Prevention?
You may earn college credit through Ashland University. The Society for Prevention of Violence is a non-profit 501C3 organization affiliated with Ashland University.
Workshops Offered:
- Teaching Social Skills in the Classroom (offered online)
- Violence Prevention for Elementary and Secondary Students
- Managing the Classroom for Success
- Reaching and Teaching the ADHD Child
- Building Academic Resiliency in the Stressed Child
- Domestic Violence, Causes, Prevention
- Building Self-Esteem Through the Curriculum
- Fair Play: Violence Prevention in the Sports Arena
- Bully Free Schools
- Gangs and Guns
For more information:
Call: 216.591.1876; Email: spvmail@att.net; Web site: http://spvmail.home.att.net
Beyond Pesticides 28th National Pesticide Forum
Cosponsored by CWRU’s Department of Environmental Health and Science
Beyond Pesticides 28th National Pesticide Forum will be held in Cleveland at CWRU. This forum will bring together nationally known scientists, policy makers, activists, doctors, business people and the public to share scientific findings and public policy that are important to health and the environment.
These national conventions excel at making the connection between pesticides and many other sustainability concerns. While most people know that pesticides pose a health risk, even more will learn that they are related to issues involving clean air, clean water, food, farming, lawn care, sewer systems, and the health of our drinking water, rivers and lakes. Local organizations and experts in the above fields will be invited to present and participate in the forum. Also, there will be a focus on green job growth and the use of Lake Erie. Furthermore, the forum will introduce and dovetail perfectly with Beyond Pesticides Ohio’s Safe Lawns/Clean Water campaign. Vast amounts of herbicides and fertilizers end up in our rivers, lakes, sewers, and drinking water. Through a robust public education campaign, the project will seek to address these concerns and bring about policy changes. Fortunately, there are alternatives to toxic pesticides. BP promotes the safe and effective practices of Integrated Pest Management (IPM.) IPM is a common sense science-based program that significantly reduces or in some cases eliminates the need to use toxic pesticides. Many states and municipalities are beginning to embrace IPM techniques for both indoor and outdoor pest and turf problems. For more detailed information see the Web site: http://www.beyondpesticides.org .
Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
If you have not yet availed your school of the rich resource that is the Maltz Museum, here are some of the opportunities it offers your students:
- The Immigrant Experience in America and the struggle to hold onto traditions and values of the old world while embracing the freedoms and opportunities of the new
- Cleveland history and its growth from an isolated, swampy village to a thriving, modern metropolis
- The tragedy of the Holocaust, and the stories of survivors who triumphed over Nazi hatred
- The struggle to combat hatred, racism and anti-Semitism and to build a community of tolerance and diversity
- Jewish Holidays and Traditions that are rooted in ancient times yet continue to evolve
- The State of Israel and the modern re-birth of an ancient nation
All Maltz Museum programs encourage hands-on, participatory learning, are aligned with Ohio State Academic Content Standards in Social Studies, Language Arts and Fine Arts, and fit into other content areas. Related State Standards are listed under each program title. Extensive study guides are available online at www.maltzmuseum.org. Each guide includes a narrative overview of the topic; pre- and post-visit classroom discussion questions; a timeline integrating Cleveland, U.S. and world history; photographs and illustrations drawn from the exhibits; a glossary; and additional print and Web-based resources for further study.
To schedule a visit, please call 216.593.0575. Reservations are required for all school tours. Visits should be scheduled at least two weeks in advance for best choice of date and time. Most school tours are approximately 60 minutes long. The fee is $3.00 per student. Class visits are available 9:30 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and until 8:00 pm on Wednesday. Special times can be arranged to meet your needs. One teacher or chaperone must accompany every 10 students. There is no food service or lunchroom in the Museum; staff can advise about food choice options nearby.
Thanks to generous donors, the Museum is able to offer FREE BUSSING to schools in selected districts. Your school may be eligible! Call today to discuss your tour options.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is conveniently located in Beachwood, Ohio less than one mile north of the Chagrin/422 east exit of Interstate 271 and less than 30 minutes from downtown Cleveland. You will find the Museum at 2929 Richmond Road, between South Woodland Road and Shaker Boulevard. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.maltzmuseum.org.
News from CPO
Title I stimulus money must be spent during the 2009 - 2010 school year. CPO can make your dollars go further; please keep them in mind!
Christmas is upon us and gift cards make the perfect gift. Do all your holiday shopping at CPO and save $$$ with their vast array of discounted gift cards. Call CPO (440.717.9700 or 866.746.7276) or check out their Web site: http://www.centralpurchasing.com for a complete listing.
Living Bread Radio
Living Bread Radio AM 1060 WILB is Northeast Ohio’s newest Catholic radio station. It broadcasts from sunrise to sunset according to FCC regulations. At all hours you may access the station’s Web site at www.livingbreadradio.com for more information. The station provides Morning Prayer, the Rosary, and talk shows with call-in capability. Among the hosts are Dr. Ray Guarendi, Colleen Mast, Johnnette Benkovic, Teresa Tomeo, Fr. Larry Richard and Al Kresta. Many of the EWTN personalities also broadcast on this station. Please support and make known this station, which is the 80 th Catholic station in the United States as compared to over 1,500 stations owned and operated by Protestant Christians.
The 100th Year Anniversary for the Boy Scouts of America
2010 is the 100 th Year Anniversary for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The Greater Cleveland Council of the Boy Scouts will be commemorating this wonderful event in numerous ways. One of these is participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Cleveland. The Boy Scouts will surely be the largest contingent in the Parade. The BSA anticipates over 1,500 registered Scouts, dressed in their Scout uniforms, from all over the Cleveland area participating in the Parade. The parade starts at 1:05, but participants must be there by 12:00 noon.
I ask that you permit the Boy Scouts (ages 12-18) and Cub Scouts (ages 8-11) to participate and grant them an excused absence. If need be, the BSA would support your requiring the Scouts who participate to prepare a report on Scouting in America or another relevant topic chosen by the school. Thank you in advance for supporting scouting. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these Scouts!
Year For Priests
Let us continue to pray for our priests who represent Christ to us:
We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry. Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love. Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit. Lead them to new depths of union with your Son. Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son. Intercede for our priests that, offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
St. John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for our priests and for us!