Group+G

= http://pet.smcdsb.on.ca/Group G=

Please keep in mind that only one person can edit this page at a time. It is recommended that each of you choose a colour of font and use the same one throughout.

As you work on your social action project (committed to 12 hours of dedicated time to giving service to others) plus responding in a Wiki format with your group of three, you will answer the following question: In light of your understanding of ministry, what does it mean to minister to others through your project? You will share your thoughts and observations and actions of setting up to kinds of things you did to what you observed or saw to the final pieces of your project. At the end of your project (Dec. 2 or what you have completed thus far), your group will come up with a group response to what is ministry based on your social action journey.

Let's start answering this question    tonight.

Marian = green Kelly //What does it mean to you to minister to others? What is ministry?//

Ministry is defined as ‘The act of serving, ministration" or "One that serves as a means; an instrumentality" (Merriam-Webster dictionary). The use of the word often is in conjunction with a priest or minister or with those who, "minister to the sick" etc., although as teachers we really are ministering as well. As a teacher in a Catholic school, I always knew at some level that the job of being a teacher meant that I was serving my students in many ways. Whether it was by imparting knowledge, being a good example or role model, or just by being the best I could be with them every day.

Often we don’t see the results of our efforts, mainly because our students may not be in a place to recognize them, so it can be easy to feel discouraged or frustrated. Earlier on in my teaching career, I was expecting to see these results, so ironically, the gradual shift in seeing my role as a teacher in the light of ministry makes has made my life much more fulfilling. I am not here to see all the immediate effects of what I’m trying to impart (although we do see some, which still is also rewarding!), but am here to minister to the lives that I come into contact with, in the hopes that somewhere on their journey, I have somehow helped or made a difference.

I like the quotes, "If it is to be, it is up to me." (Unknown Author) and, "A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." (Henrick Ibsen). In service to others in our own communities (spouse, family, friends, school, church, city, etc.), by using each of our individual gifts we have been blessed with, we are ministering to others. What does it mean to me to minister to others? In my world, it means that I try to be the best that I can be to set a good example. Specifically it means; being kind to all that I come into contact with (students, staff, family members, friends, strangers etc.), trying to build a caring community within my classroom and within my school through activities, fund-raises and conversation, and helping out with activities within my community.

Oct. 18th/08. Good morning! My plan has already been implemented!! It's been crazy busy and I was just trying to keep up with our assignments when I wrote my first entry, (to answer the question,"What is ministry to you? etc."), so I didn't have time to explain more. Basically, I decided to have a Bake Sale with my Hospitality students. I have two grade 11, and one grade 10 class, and they're mostly all keen on baking, so I thought we should do something we're already adept at, and use those skills to raise money for a cause of our choice. Shortly after we were given our task (In Religion Part 3), I took my classes to the computer lab. to plan and to get them inspired/fired up. We first had a discussion about our lives... I asked them what they had to be grateful for in their lives, our school, our province, country etc. Sometimes teenagers tend to look at the glass half empty, however, I was happy to see that almost all eagerly contributed to the positive discussion. From there, I asked them to think about our community at a local level, for those in need, or at someone in their life who was in need of some sort of assisstance. After that conversation, I presented the idea of a Bake Sale to be held during parent-teacher night, in order to raise money for a cause of our choice. Thinking about the discussion we had just had about those in need in our community, they then were instructed to do some further research on the internet, to find out who specifically we could direct our efforts towards. By the end of the class, many students were clearly excited about the causes we might raise money for, and I circulated a form where they filled out the cause they wanted to raise support. I let them know that we could not going to give the money to many different places, but somehow would decide amongst all the choices given, on one recipient. I will continue explaining our journey at another date... I'm going to see if I can scan in the list of causes students chose.

What does it mean to you to minister to others? What is ministry?

For me, the concept of ministry is the act of guidance - whether it is to be guided, receive positive mentorship or encouraging words by another. One who ministers provides direction, supervision, assistance and positive words of encouragement. As teachers, we are called to serve and to provide ministry to our pupils. We provide support and encouragement whether it is academic or emotional to our young students. Ministry is the act of helping and guiding others forward along their journey.

For my 12 hours of volunteering, I dedicated myself to coaching the junior girls volleyball team at my school (which took up waaaay more than just 12 hours). Coaching students is such a major responsibility on many different levels. Coaching is not just about playing sports.

The ministry of students begins at the first meeting. At the very first meeting, the girls are provided with direction, supervision and positive words of encouragement about the upcoming tryouts. Expectations regarding behaviour, attendance and following instructions is given to the girls in clear and precise language. These expectations are for the students both during tryouts and when they happen to make the team. .I am always very firm with my team members before and after tryouts – it sets clear parameters just like in the classroom. They need to understand that it is important to listen to either myself, the other coach, to each other or the ref.

Coaching students in more than just sports. Coaching is also about building community with your team, fellow students (students who help ref and setup and clean-up, the students who come out to support and cheer the team) siblings, and parents. It is really important for me to build community with the girls, this in turn makes for a much more rewarding experience because you have positive and well-behaved players, and supportive fans (fellow students, parents, siblings and even grandparents) in the school community. As a coach it’s important to minister to the girls the importance of being not only supportive and respectful of each other but to the teams we play against as well. I stress this repeatedly. After one of our games, a coach from the public board commented how positive and how much spirit our team radiated. It was such a fabulous comment to receive from another coach of a rival team!!!

As a coach, it was really important to minister to my team, the importance of sportsmanlike behaviour and having fun (if we won or not). I always went over the positive plays of each player (which can be challenging at times) and how they contributed to each game. My team was always the first to cheer after a game - if they won or if they lost. It was interesting to see the reaction of the other team, especially if the other team had been the winners. Sometimes they quickly followed suit or sometimes the coach would have to round up the team in order to cheer.

So, it’s been quite a while! I’d like to continue where I left off... who were we going to raise money for during the Bake Sale? There were two clear ‘winners’ in the list we compiled of worthy recipients of our fundraising money, The Canadian Cancer Society or Youth Haven of Barrie. It came down to a vote between the two, and because one of my student’s mother is currently battling cancer, the vote leaned towards the Cancer Society. To make it more personal, we decided we would like the money to stay within the community and go to Barrie’s RVH Cancer Care Centre. <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">The Bake Sale was set for St. Peter’s Parent-Teacher night on Thursday, October 16th. From Monday to Thursday we baked the following recipes in class; gingerbread and sugar cookies. The gingerbread and sugar cookies were decorated with royal icing in different shapes of the students’ choice (i.e. hearts, flowers, purses and butterflies) so they took up the entire week of class time. (Monday - dough, Tuesday - rolled out dough and baked cookies, Wednesday - made icing and started decorating, Thursday - finished decorating). Because we needed more items, 3 groups of students stayed after school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. Together we made brownies, date squares and mini cherry cheesecakes. <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">Because baked goods generally need to be made quite close to the day they’re being eaten, and it would be better to have more variety, I designed an assignment where the main objective was for students to bake at home and contribute their results to the Bake Sale. I called it //The Big Give Bake Sale// and asked them to ‘Raise some dough’. I will attach it another day (It’s on my H drive at school and I’m at home). Students were to bring their goods in before homeroom on Thursday the 16th, already cut into 40 pieces if possible. (The assignment asked them to make 40 pieces of whatever baked good they were contributing, so that we could prepare 40 plates of different baked goods on each). Students were also in charge of making posters for the school and the bake sale table.

<span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">On Thursday, October 16th, 2008, <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">I arrived at school early to set up extra folding tables so that the masses of baked goods I was expecting had a place to sit. Students started arriving quite early (some had gotten rides from their parents in order to bring the delicate goods in) and in no time the tables were completely covered. I had to locate another free table from under the stage and get it into the classroom! The room smelled heavenly and looked great too! I should have taken a picture of that, but didn’t think of it as it was a pretty hectic day. I did remember to take pictures of the bake sale itself though. I will try and attach a few. <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">After school 4 volunteer students and myself organized all the plates and wrapped them with saran wrap and a ribbon. We got a few cake stands ready for our other baked goods as well.

<span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">Show time! Parent-Teacher Night <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">I had arranged for four students to man the tables throughout the night. They arrived early, at 5:30pm, so that they could set the tables up, put tablecloths on them, and arrange the baked goods. It went quite smoothly and we were done by 5:50. Ten minutes to spare. I had some ‘special occasion’ chef hats ready in case they wanted to wear them for fun, and a few girls decided to. =) <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">I didn’t have too many parents visit me (6 =( So I managed to pop out a few times to check on their progress. They were quite energized by the whole experience and took matters into their own hands as the evening wound down and they had a few plates left... Two manned the tables and two walked around the school promoting our cause... They sold every plate! In total we made $423.50. Quite good for a bake sale! <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">The next day, the students who hadn’t attended were quite excited to hear how it had gone and were happy to hear that we sold out of the plates. It was nice to see them involved and interested. Sometimes teens are busy being ‘cool’, and don’t show too much emotion, but this activity seemed to tear down those barriers a bit. The community feeling in all my classes was definitely enhanced! Another nice aside, one teacher approached me and said this had been her favourite ‘event’ we’d done so far. She said it was the best to see how proud a student of hers (who is also in my class), was about his recipe. He had seen that she had bought a plate and asked how she liked a certain cookie (his). She said he positively beamed when he revealed it was his, and when he let her know where the money from all the students’ efforts was going. To me, she said she would never have expected to have that conversation with him, as he portrays a ‘macho’ type image. <span style="color: rgb(8,160,15);">I was also very encouraged to see how all the students took great pride in their efforts, and how they were so proud to be providing the Cancer Care Centre at RVH a cheque with the proceeds. It was a wonderful experience that I will be making into a tradition continued every <span style="color: rgb(29,180,32);">semester <span style="color: rgb(29,180,32);">!

p.s. Sorry I had some trouble getting the photo on... I tried to move it from the top but it didn't work out.

<span style="color: rgb(0,14,255); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Congratulations Marian on the success of your bake sale and proceeds going to Cancer Care Center at the RVH. Your students must have felt very proud of themselves. Well Done!

Now back to my story of ministry. Coaching my girls did not raise any money. However, they did learn how to work as a team. They learned how to support and encourage one another. They became true ambassadors for our school, as they were super well-behaved and role models for other teams both at games and at tournaments. They were always positive, sunny, and fun on and off the court. I did not have to worry about inappropriate behaviour because there was none. I have always enjoyed coaching, however the group of kids and the dynamics can change from year to year. This was fabulous group to work with and the minister too! I see them around the school and they are still bright and sunny with big smiles on their faces whenever we happen to pass by one another. Positive ministry helps to build solid community in the school.

Kelly, what a beautiful definition of ministry! You have encompassed all I was trying to say in a few phrases. Your example of ministry with your students is one that is significant.... whether or not you raise money is irrelevant I think. The experience and character shaping you have created will hopefully last for their lifetimes. Congrats to you as well!

-- Kelly and Marian, Thank you for sharing. It is great to see you both leading so many amazing initiatives within our community. Continue to "Be the change you wish to see in the world" Ghandi. -Jo Wiki Reflection - Joanna White For my ministry definition I put my hours towards some of the initiatives within the school and church community. The Operation Christmas Child project was a great success again this year in the classroom. The students are eager to help out in every part of the project. I find it neat to see how some of the students who are often quieter or those who sometimes present behavior problems in the classroom are often the ones to take a leadership role and set a great example to their classmates. For this project and other similar projects such as the food drive, buying goats, coat drive etc.. I find that this takes very little effort from the teacher. It is the students that choose to do the work necessary with only little reminders of what a great job they are doing. The students in my class split into groups and choose a possible child that they would be gathering gifts for. It was nice to see their sincere generosity as they came up with ideas for the young boy or girl that they would be putting a smile on their face. A few other projects that I was involved with was the Alzheimer’s Society Coffee Break, The Thanksgiving Food drive, Christmas food drive, Clothing Drive, Alternative Income program, the National Me-to-We day and of course the many Kenya Project awareness events. The Kenya project has been rewarding already as we see the result of the efforts of the students. The students have had assemblies (Principal kisses Goat), news coverage, MANY fund-raisers, leadership camp, awareness booths at the Parish, reached into the community to help at events such as the Christmas dinner for the homeless. Coaching Tennis and Hockey is another volunteer activity that could be seen as ministry as well. This is most rewarding for me because I had amazing coaches that taught me the importance of working as team and commitment. The girls were so very excited to be a part of the Monsignor Clair Cup this season and I was happy that they were able to be part of the tradition that started when I was a player years ago at St. Joe’s. Ministry can be seen within the team as the girls work hard for each other at practice, in the game and encouraging each other on and off the ice. When asked what does it mean to minister to others? I would suggest that it means unselfishly giving or serving others. This can be seen in many direct or indirect ways. The true act of ministering to someone can be summed up in a quote by Jackson Brown jr. "Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking "