November 2018
by Catherine Maresca
Happy Thanksgiving!
May your hearts be full of gratitude for the gifts of the year, and for the comfort of family and friends when you were in need.
I turned 65 this year – and was aware of passing this landmark without retiring! Friends who leave a job but continue to work do so for the increased flexibility of their time, and the ability to choose the work they like best. I’m happy to say I have so much flexibility and independence I felt no need to retire, and I do love my work in the atrium and here at CCTheo. I’m very grateful that this is so.
CARA is launched!
Last week the first cohort of ten catechists met with Dr. John Chattin-McNichols for Part One of the Catechist Action Research Alliance (CARA). He introduced us to the principles of qualitative and quantitative research and helped us begin to apply these to the questions we brought from our own atriums. These included evaluating material changes, working with toddlers, working with adolescents, documenting the long-term effects of CGS in a child’s spiritual life, encouraging art in the atrium, and using Level II and III materials with non-readers.
Now we all return to our atriums and begin to implement our plans. We’ll get support from John and each other throughout the year and gather again for Part II right before Weaving Our Gifts in October, 2019 to share our work and observations.
Thanks to our ten participants and all the catechists who donated to make this possible. I’ll be writing again during the winter invite you to support the development of research in the catechesis community in a variety of ways. For now, send me an email at catherine@cctheo.org if you are willing to help some of the researchers with data collection, or be on the mailing list for CARA updates.
For this and all the ways you’ve blessed CCTheo this year I thank you. May your Thanksgiving gatherings be blessed, and your grateful hearts carry you peacefully into Advent.