Member of school’s campus ministry department talks about upcoming year and the strong finish to last school year.
Della Lawrence is at a recent mission trip with children from the St. Mary of Celle Catholic Charities day care and preschool for low-income families in Chicago.
Those initiatives include the “Launch,” which was started recently to help get incoming students in the high school better acclimated to the school goings-on, but more importantly, to get them more familiar with the school’s mission of “working with God to to form Christian people, upright citizens and academic scholars.”
Lawrence said the Launch was redesigned a bit this year to work better with the school’s Peer Leader program.
“We held Launch this past June after school ended,” Lawrence said. “It was condensed to a 2-1/2 hour program that involved both incoming freshman for this coming year and their parents. During the Launch, Fr. Joe (Hindelang, s.m., NDP principal) welcomed the families in prayer, and Fr. (Jim) Strasz, s.m., (religion dept.) introduced them to our school’s Marist mission.”
Lawrence said then the students met their Peer Leader mentors for the first time after which the Peer Leaders and incoming freshmen broke off into the gym as the parents stayed in the cafeteria for a separate program.
Student spirituality
“The overall purpose of campus ministry at Notre Dame is to support and complement both school and family in their mutually integrative roles of faith formation and religious education,” said Cathy Zuccaro, who heads the campus ministry group. “This extends to the lived-faith experience of the students. The student’s spiritual development is the core focus of a Christian, Catholic education and this faith, these values and the supporting theology are taught, encouraged and discovered at NDP. How students live out these principles becomes their spirituality.”
She said campus ministry serves to support, enrich and foster that growth in Notre Dame’s students.
Zuccaro and Lawrence have some new help this year as Fr. Ron Nikodem, s.m., has already arrived on campus as campus minister, and Eric Olson will soon join the department, which also includes Mary Watson.
“We have been rearranging responsibilities so all current comprehensive ministry and outreach can be attained,” Lawrence said. “In the past we have been stretching ourselves very thin, so having more staff will allow us to be more effective at what we are already doing.”
Meanwhile, at the June “Launch,” which Lawrence said was one of the school's most successful, the incoming freshmen were introduced to the other students in their Peer Leader "families" and they also engaged in activities to help them meet other incoming freshmen.
“Students explored more about their personality and understanding and others better,” Lawrence said. “They also went on a scavenger hunt to become more acquainted with the campus. In addition, the Peer Leaders spoke about how high school is a very different experience from middle school even for those who attended Notre Dame’s middle division, and they also gave them advice for success on both the social and academic fronts.”
God’s presence among students
On a personal level, Lawrence added that while the entire campus ministry operation is a very gratifying experience, she said the most rewarding for her is when she gets to take students on retreat.
“Just to get the kids away from the hectic schedules and daily stress of school and regular life is important,” she said. “I especially enjoy the Peer Minister retreats. It's great to see students relax, smile, enjoy time and get to know each other better. They openly share their faith without hesitation and all are amazed by the insight they have for one another. They become more aware of God's presence among themselves and throughout their daily lives.”
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.