Fall 2016 - Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church

FALL 2016
PRESENTATION PRESS
Vision Statement
Our Lady of the Presentation is a vibrant, Eucharist-centered community offering all Catholics participation in sacraments,
social action and Christian education.
Mission Statement
To share our gifts by providing opportunities for spiritual growth in worship, service, education and community activities, is our mission.
Giving the Gift of Education Helps Salvadoran Students Achieve
Their Dreams by Jo Engert
Your support of our Scholarship and Formation Program in
San Rafael Cedros is making a difference in the lives of our
students and their families. I would like to share a letter from
one of our students, Geovanny, who visited our parish in 2013.
How To Support Our Sister Community
1-Year High School Scholarship: $300 per student
1-Year University Scholarship: $1050 per student
Second Collection for El Salvador
September 17 & 18 at all Masses
Contributions also accepted through the
Online Giving portal on our parish website:
www.olpls.org, select “El Salvador Fund”
Dear members of Our Lady of the Presentation Church,
I hope you remember me, Geovanny, scholarship student, who
visited three years ago with the delegation from San Rafael Cedros. It
was a unique experience that is worth expanding to other young people. It was a motivating experience that transcends one’s personal life.
Personally, it was a moment that marked my life; to not be afraid of
my condition of vulnerability as being young, poor, orphaned and
Latin American.
I am currently a university student studying Architecture and
Urbanism, a dream I reached thanks to the help of each and every one
of you. Thank you for believing in this great work and helping me to
grow within the program, not only as a student, but as a whole person
who wants to improve the lives of others through my work.
I hope you consider me as one of the many fruits of the program.
There is not a day that I do not think of the need in my country to
work to eradicate the social inequalities, to end corruption and the
violence that afflicts El Salvador. Also, there is a need to collaborate
so that more young people believe that it is possible to improve their
quality of life without becoming an illegal immigrant.
Your friend, Geovanny
Want to get involved?
Join us at our next El Salvador Committee meeting:
Tuesday, September 13
7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium
Featured Speaker: Jesus Geureca, attorney for Immigration Professionals, who will speak on these topics:
pathway to citizenship; the deportation process;
detention and the treatment of captured illegal
immigrants; options for widows, victims of violent crimes
and students.
For information contact Jo Engert, [email protected]
WWW.OLPLS.ORG
In July, our parish
sent a threemember delegation
to San Rafael
Cedros, to visit our
scholarship
students and
their families.
They also
delivered the
reading books that
were collected by
our parish this past
Spring.
Children’s Faith Formation
Offers Something For Everyone!
OLP School: Did You Know?
by Jo Engert, CFF Director
● 460 students were welcomed
on August 17 including 47
kindergartners and 27 transfer
students.
● Our staff includes 38 dedicated members who provide a
strong education in a faithbased learning environment.
● 16 graduates of the 2016 graduating class received academic
scholarships to 4 Catholic High Schools.
● OLP is a pioneer in technology integration, utilizing Google
Apps for Education in Grades 4-8.
● Students in Grades K-8 participate in the National Hour of
Code each year.
● OLP receives a F.I.R.E. (Foundation for Inclusive Religious
Education) grant to provide an Inclusion Specialist and 4 paraeducators to aid teachers in meeting the individual learning
needs of all students.
● 22 students receive direct services from the Team Lab and all
students benefit from inclusive education.
● Each grade adopts a charity or organization to serve and
students collectively perform more than 11,000 service hours
each year.
At OLP, we strive to Live Like Jesus on a daily basis. We use our
Disciple Powers to Do the Right Thing and Treat People Right.
CFF has a new program this year for our middle
schoolers. Would you like your child to have a better
understanding of the readings on Sunday? Is your child
seeking ways to make our faith relevant to their everyday
life? Are you looking for ways your child can feel more a
part of the Mass and the parish community? Then have
them give our new program, Pflaum Gospel Weeklies,
a try.
The children will learn their faith within the rhythms
and seasons of the liturgical year as they focus on the
upcoming weekend readings. Each weekly lesson inspires
them to seek out ways to practice their faith in their daily
lives. New material is printed every eight weeks
allowing current events to be incorporated into each lesson
keeping them fresh, relevant and interesting.
Our best kept secret is the Catechesis of the Good
Shepherd program for our 3 to 6 year-olds. This is a
Montessori-based faith formation program for our youngest children providing hands on learning in scripture and
liturgy.
We still offer our traditional Sunday School program
for children ages 3 to kindergarten during the 10:00 a.m.
Mass. On Wednesday nights, we continue to offer a
program for grades 1 through 8 with an early session,
5:00 to 6:15 p.m. and a late session, 6:45 to 8:00 p.m.
Volunteers are always needed on a short term and long
term basis. We are especially looking for people who sew
and work with wood. We are also in need of people willing to dust and wash towels. Volunteers are also needed to
lead our Children’s Liturgy of the Word during the
weekend Masses.
We have something for you! Just give us a call in the
Children’s Faith Formation office, 251-1135.
2
by Jodi Briggs, Principal
Presentation Press
Presentation ECC Continues to Achieve NAEYC Accreditation by Cathy Koob, ECC Director
Our Lady of the Presentation Early Childhood Center is proud to be a
ministry of Our Lady of the Presentation Parish. Our program
continues to grow and improve every year. In the school year 2015-2016,
we were re-accredited for the fourth time with NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). What does it mean to be a
NAEYC Accredited program?
NAEYC Accreditation of programs for young children represents the
mark of quality in early childhood education. In order to achieve accreditation OLP ECC had to complete several steps which involved an in
depth self-study, portfolio for each room, and allowing a trained NAEYC
representative to visit and perform an assessment of our program.
During this process. our teachers and staff did an excellent job and we have exceptional scores as a result. NAEYC uses 10
standards to evaluate programs and programs must meet a minimum of 80% of the criteria in each standard. Here are the scores
we received during our evaluation: Relationships -100%; Curriculum - 100%; Teaching - 95%, Assessment - 100%;
Health - 100+%; Teachers - 83% (this is a combined score of the educational background of entire teaching staff);
Families - 100+%; Community Relationships - 100+%; Physical Environment - 91%; Leadership and Management - 100+%.
One of our ongoing goals at OLP ECC is to continue to provide outstanding care and early education in a Christ-centered
environment to the young children of our parish and community. We are looking forward to sharing all of our activities and
adventures for the 2016-2017 school year and invite our parish community to come by for a visit anytime!
It Takes a Team to Prepare Parish Youth
for the Sacrament of Confirmation
by Christy Gruenbaum, Director of Youth Ministry
SAVETHEDATE!
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One of the areas in Youth Ministry focusing on education is our
Confirmation Ministry and the catechetical preparation for the sacrament.
Our parish is blessed to have a team of 42 people this year who share
their gifts in this ministry. We have small group leaders, co-catechists
(discussion leaders) and peer ministers.
Small group leaders open their home and provide a loving and comfortable place to host the meetings with the catechists and candidates. But
most importantly, they create an environment that is welcoming and open
to learning more about our faith. Our small group leaders also encourage
and support the candidates as they share their gifts in service opportunities and help facilitate their small group during the Confirmation retreat.
We have two-person catechist teams who lead discussion at the
Confirmation small group meetings. Our catechists follow the curriculum
topics of prayer, Christian morality, service, the Sacraments of Initiation
and lead discussions and activities about living out our faith in daily life.
We also have peer ministers, teens that have been confirmed in our
church in the last year or two, who walk the journey of preparation
alongside the candidates in support. They lead relationship-building
activities and model active participation in the discussions. They also
spend months planning the overnight Confirmation retreat in January that
they lead.
We can truly witness the Holy Spirit at work in this amazing team of
volunteers in our parish.
Presentation Press
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Our Lady of the Presentation Church
130 NW Murray Road
Lee’s Summit, MO 64081
www.olpls.org
NON-PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT #33
LEES SUMMIT MO
64063
Opportunities for Worship, Service, Education and Community
September
5: Labor Day Mass, 9am
10-11: Nametag Weekend
CRHP Women’s Retreat
LSSS Food Drive
Free Blood Pressure Checks
Sunday School - “Meet the
Teacher”
14: Year of Mercy Pilgrimage to
Nelson Art Gallery
Children’s Faith Formation
Classes Begin
17: Fiesta Hispana
17-18: Catechetical Sunday
Divine Donuts
23: OLP PTO Golf Tournament
24-25: CRHP Retreat for Men
November
October
1:
1-2:
Quarter Raffle
1:
LSSS Food Drive
Free Blood Pressure Checks
K of C Parish Breakfast
All Saints Holy Day Masses:
6:30am, 8:15am, 6pm
5:
OLP Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk
Youth Group Hayride
6:
Women’s Fall Retreat
7:
Marrieds Mini-Retreat
15-16: Divine Donuts
21: OLP School Trunk-or-Treat
25: Liturgical Minister Enrichment
27 & 29: First Reconciliation Parent
Child Meeting
29-30: Stewardship Renewal Kick-off
5-6:
LSSS Food Drive
Free Blood Pressure Checks
K of C Parish Breakfast
Mass of Remembrance: 8:30am
& 10am
10 & 12: First Reconciliation Parent
Child Meeting
19-20: Stewardship Renewal
Commitment Weekend
Heart & Sole Shoe Collection
Divine Donuts
21: Presentation Parish Feast Day
27: Amoris Laetitia Workshop
24: Thanksgiving Day Mass, 9am
29: First Reconciliation Parent
Meeting
27: First Sunday of Advent