GLVN Bulletin
News for GLVN Volunteers (Thông Tin cho Thầy Cô GLVN)
December 9, 2016
Dear Catechists & TAs,
What a fun weekend we had last week during the Advent Retreats and our Christmas Party! I won't say much else and just let the photos below tell the story about the fun weekend. Thank you for everything that you did to make it a time of spiritual renewal for our students and for each other as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.
These past few months, I have encountered some students who have very challenging and difficult situations in their family lives that are affecting how they feel when they are at Sunday school, and in some circumstances, how they feel about God. Hearing these situations definitely weighs down my heart, but also makes me hope more in Christ and the joy that I know He can bring into the lives of our youth when they recognize and develop a relationship with Him.
I know how difficult it is to be a teacher to students who are not participating or responding to your efforts. Thank you for all you do to support our youth. I want to especially thank those teachers who have reached out to us in BDH to support you in this. We are trying our best to do so, and it takes a lot of patience and prayer to help our students. Let's do this together.
I have spoken to at least 6-7 students over the past several weeks who are in difficult situations. I am sure there are plenty more students like this. This surely affects their ability to stay focused on studies. So I ask all our teachers to please be compassionate toward your students. If they are phá or distracted or seem disengaged in their GLVN studies and class time, please please please take time to talk with them and pray with them. And don't hesitate to bring them to me if you would like my help or Ban Điều Hành's help.
Let's continue to make these weeks of Advent a wonderful time of preparation for our students!
In Christ,
Chi
A Blessed Retreat Weekend with Cha Tom!
Tĩnh Tâm Giáo Xứ -- Kính Mời Quý Thầy Cô
Xin quý thầy cơ đọc thư mời của Anh Đại Diện Giáo Xứ. Mong rằng quý thầy cô có thể tham dự buổi tĩnh tâm này đặc biệt cho những người lãnh đạo trong Giáo Xứ:
Kính chào Cha Chánh, Phó Xứ cùng các anh chị:
Thứ Bảy này ngày 9 tháng 12 mong các anh chị cố gắng bớt chút thời gian tham dự Thánh Lễ 7:00 tối và sau Thánh Lễ sẽ có buổi Tĩnh Tâm dành cho các Lãnh Đạo trong Giáo Xứ do Linh Mục Phêrô Nguyễn Tấn Tường chia sẽ (Giảng Phòng) với Chủ Đề Tinh Thần Phục Vụ, ngay sau Thánh Lễ đến 9:00 tối.
Sau buổi Giảng Phòng chúng ta sẽ cùng nhau dùng cơm tối chung với Ngài và hai Cha của chúng ta, và để thêm tình thân, gắn bó mong rằng mỗi người chúng ta có thể ủng hộ một món để cùng chia sẻ với nhau. Rất mong sự hiện diện của mọi người.
Xin Chúa Chúc Lành cho mọi Suy Nghĩ và Việc Làm của chúng ta.
ĐDGX
Sĩ Hoàng
December Teacher Meeting This Sunday 12/10
We will have desserts and other treats to celebrate all teachers and volunteers who had birthdays this first semester.
Thank you for all that you do!
Sunday Kids' Mass in the Gym
Reminder -- Please do NOT let your students out until the bell rings for dismissal!
Visit the Nativity and Give a Gift to Jesus!
We will place Jesus in the nativity on our last day of class before Christmas (12/17). A basket of hay will also be at the nativity, and we invite all students and teachers to write what you're gift to Jesus will be on a piece of hay and place it in the basket. Before Mass on 12/17, we will bring these prayer intentions to Baby Jesus in the church.
Each class will be provided an envelope with strips of "hay" for you to write your gift on. Please find some time with your class to visit the nativity and place your gifts in the basket. Encourage your students to think of the various ways they can give a gift to Jesus. Here are some examples, but have your students be detailed when writing their own gifts to Jesus:
- Listening to their parent more
- Helping their parents around the house
- Playing with their siblings
- Sharing with their siblings
- Smiling at someone who may be lonely
- Helping a friend in need
- Sacrificing something they love doing so that Jesus or others can be happy
- Going to Mass more, praying more during their day
Thank you for helping your students to live a spirit of giving this season as part of this Gift to Jesus.
Watch for the 3 Kings!
Over the next few weeks they begin their travels, and may just appear in your classroom! If one of the kings is in your classroom, please use that as a teaching moment to share the story of how the 3 kings anxiously seeked to find the newborn King.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND HANDLE THE 3 KING STATUES WITH CARE!!!! THEY ARE FRAGILE AND WILL BREAK! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS AS THE KINGS VISIT YOUR CLASSROOMS.
Letters to Baby Jesus
A "Mailbox" has been placed in the hallway outside the GLVN office across from the Nativity for anyone who wants to write a letter to Jesus.
Please encourage students to write a letter telling Jesus all about their life today, who they are, who they dream to be, where their faith is now, about their family, what they like, what they hope for, what their fears are ... anything that they want to tell baby Jesus.
Envelopes will be provided. If students write their full name and grade on the envelope, we will hold on to these letters and return it to the student when they reach their last year of the GLVN program. This will be a yearly project that will be something fun to give the students years down the road to help them see how they've grown and changed in their love for Jesus and in their spiritual lives.
Teachers & TAs are more than welcomed to write a letter to Jesus too! We will keep it filed away to give back to you in a few years :-)
Visit the North Pole!!
Last year, we started a Santa's workshop to give our students a chance to buy Christmas presents for their family and friends in a non-commercial environment with religious and inspirational gift items at reasonable prices for kids. It was a hit with the kids, and so we are going to be offering this again this year. It will be on a smaller scale this year, but will still have some great items for kids to purchase.
At any time from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. for the next 2 Sundays, students can come to Santa's workshop -- located this year in Room 203 on the 2nd floor. Students should not wander there on their own. We ask that teachers bring them over so that we know that they had permission to be out of class. Students can come on their own during the lunch break and before GLVN time (9:30-10:00).
FYI -- Prices for students will be between the $2-$20 range. We are selling to students at about the cost that we purchase the items for. This year, we are also going to test out a gift shop for parents to give them a chance to buy religious gifts for their children. So there will be a number of items available in one room in room 203 that will be for "parents only"; we will sell those items at a slightly higher price to help us recoup the cost of shipping, etc., when we purchased these items. All will still be reasonably priced.
Christmas Games!
Share the Light of Christ -- Use star stickers to represent the light of Christ. Here are the game instructions:
- When guests arrive, give each a page with a sheet of star stickers.
- The object of this game is for each person to get rid of their stickers by sticking them on someone else – but only one sticker on each person. When they stick a star on someone, it represents them sharing the light of Christ.
- If a player gets caught, they must take their sticker back.
- They must also take a sticker from the person who caught them.
- You can choose who wins -- either the person with the most stickers at the end of the game or the person who got rid of all their stickers. Don't tell the kids how they can win. Just have them play. Otherwise, the game won't quite work out if the kids try to be strategic about giving/not giving their stickers. The idea of the game is to get them thinking about sharing the light of Christ.
Christmas Alphabet -- this game can be played in English & Vietnamese. Challenge them to use Vietnamese words. Give them bonus points if they do!
- Give each person or team a piece of paper and instruct them to write the alphabet vertically from A to Z.
- When you say, “Go!” they are to write a word related to Christmas that starts with each letter.
- Give them about 5 minutes to play.
- Then starting with A, have each group tell you what they wrote. If another group had the same word as them for that letter, then those teams have to cross out the word.
- At the end, each team counts how many words they still have.
- The team with the most points wins.
Nativity Right and Left Story -- this is a fun way to give away gifts, while sharing the story of Christ's birth.
- Have 5-6 wrapped gifts available.
- Have students sit in a circle and have some holding the gifts (spread them out evenly around the circle).
- Instruct them that you will be telling a Christmas story. Whenever they hear the word "Right" in the story, they pass the present to the right one person. If they hear the word "Left" in the story, then they pass the present to the left. Continue on until the story is done.
- The people holding the gifts at the end of the story, win the prizes.
Final Exams for First Semester
As previously shared in our teacher meetings, these exams are meant to help you monitor the progress of your students so that we can continue to help them achieve the outcomes that we want for each grade level. From our perspective, there is no such thing as a pass or fail in religious education; we all have much to learn always about our faith and to grow in our love for Jesus.
That being said, please use these exams as a way to encourage your students to keep on learning about their faith -- rather than a way to reprimand them for not studying or paying attention in class. Thank you so much for your help and support with this for our students. Let's continue to encourage them and grow with them in their faith!
Important GLVN Documents & Forms
Chuong Trinh Giao Ly Viet Ngu
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Email: chipham.sasjhparish@gmail.com
Website: www.gxannagiusehien.net
Phone: 763-639-4566