Ninth and Tenth Graders Move Toward Confirmation

High School religious education and the Confirmation program is doing very well, said Harry Duchesne who is in charge of that department.

The Confirmation program which includes the ninth and tenth grades has 105 tenth graders registered and 98 ninth graders. In addition, he said, 14 new teachers have signed up to help with the high school program.

The year began with a mandatory parent-student night on September 14 for all ninth and tenth graders. The evening, called Faith Night featured Dean Forrest who is a nationally known Catholic singer, songwriter and public speaker. According to Harry, one of the performer’s goals is to challenge youth and parents to open up their hearts to God to see the value of church.

It was a successful evening, he said. Several parents told him they loved the program.

”Not only was it entertaining but inspiring,” he said. “We are the body of Christ. It’s all of us who are the church, not the building.”

Harry said Dean Forrest spoke strongly about the value of prayer and Eucharist. He addressed modern day struggles teenagers face such as: dating problems. He gave facts and stats about teenage suicide, about young girls getting pregnant, about drinking. He emphasized the need for teenagers to support their parents and parents to support their teenagers.

This year there is a new requirement for tenth graders. They will do a full weekend retreat at Oakhurst Retreat and Conference Center in Whitinsville. The retreat will be run by five high school juniors and seniors who have already been confirmed. The first weekend was November 18 to 20. Tenth graders who did not attend this weekend should sign up by March 31, 2006 for the weekend of April 1 and 2.

Parents take note: there are two service projects involving parents. The first one is Christmas caroling on December 18 and the second is the Walk for Children on Good Friday.