By Kelley Kepler
Catholic Herald

Vacation Bible school is a hit for all the participants

SUPERIOR -- As they enjoy the remainder of the summer, many children who have participated in summer religious education programs through their parishes say they had fun at vacation Bible school.

Sue Wallin, who coordinates religious education at St. Dominic Parish in Frederic, organized a vacation Bible school program for the week of July 20-24. It was attended by 33 preschool through sixth grade students from St. Dominic and Immaculate Conception Parish in Grantsburg, along with several non-Catholic students who wished to attend.

Summer faith programs are important, Wallin said, because they give children a week-long opportunity to get excited about their faith through fun learning activities.

This year Wallin chose to purchase a program called "Son Harvest County Fair" from Ligouri Publications. She said this program was helpful in setting up a theme and providing materials and ideas that centered around the theme.

To teach children about the fruits of the Spirit, the kit included a video in which characters learned to grow love, plant peace, produce patience and pick kindness as they prepared for the county fair. The kit also included videos and CDs to teach children songs and various movements for each song. It also came with many suggestions for simple games, craft projects and even recipes to reinforce the daily lessons.

In addition to the kit, Wallin had help from six high school students from the confirmation class, who volunteered their time to plan and teach the younger students.

"They were good leaders who were there everyday and helped with the kids right away. You could tell that the kids felt comfortable with them because they kept hugging the teachers," Wallin said.

She said the success of the program was evident in the number of students that wanted to come back to vacation Bible school the following week.

Pat Pintens, the parish director at St. Albert in Land O'Lakes and St. Mary in Phelps, organized Jesus days for kindergarten through eighth graders in the two parishes. One was held July 1 and the other on July 31.

Because the program is only one day long, Pintens believes more parishioners with busy summer schedules are able to attend.

Rather than purchasing programs, Pintens likes to create her own. However, these are similar to the others in that Pintens picks out a theme and then finds Gospel stories, games, activities and crafts to enhance that theme. Past themes have been "Your heart is where your treasure is" and "Yahweh."

Students at Our Lady of the North Parish, Phillips, enjoyed a Super Cool Undersea Bible Adventure, July 21-25. Sherrie Kandutsch, the parish religious education coordinator, purchased the SCUBA program from Group Publishing, Inc.

Twenty-five children ages 3-9 learned through various Bible stories to believe, obey, trust and love God and to share God's love.

On the day they learned the story of Jonah and the whale, the students gathered in a classroom that had been converted into the belly of a whale.

To prepare for the week, 13 teenage volunteers converted the stairways into coral reefs, painted the windows, decorated classrooms and made a submarine. An additional 22 teenagers volunteered to be teachers for the younger students.

Kandutsch stressed that summer Bible school benefits both the younger students and the older ones, because students can learn a lot by teaching others.

"I was a middle school teacher all my career, and I know that middle school kids can do a good job teaching other children," she said. "Some of my confirmation students said teaching vacation Bible school was the highlight of their Catholic faith so far."

In addition, she said, "Little kids always love learning from older kids (more) than from adults. They feel important that the older students are taking the time to work with them."

Overall, the summer program is something everyone can enjoy. "I don't know who enjoyed it more: me, the kids that were teaching or the kids that were there themselves. In my wildest dreams, I never expected it would turn out so well," Kandutsch said. "It's a lot of work, but it's worth it."

For some students, vacation Bible school even means a field trip or two.

During their last class, Wallin's students enjoyed a day trip to Lake 26 near Danbury, where they performed songs and skits for their parents and parishioners. They also enjoyed swimming, bingo, a potluck supper and outdoor Mass with Fr. Dave Lusson.

Using the same Ligouri program that Wallin picked out, elementary students from the Rib Lake, Westboro, Whittlesey and Chelsea parish cluster focused on the theme: "Growing the Fruit of the Spirit."

A highlight of their July 14-18 Bible school included a visit to Deacon Michael Cullen's farm in Spirit. Cullen gave the students a tour and showed them how many things they use every day, such as the wool in their sweaters, come from farms.

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003