Written by Sarah Brekke, 5th Grade Teacher at Resurrection Catholic School
As a Catholic School teacher, one of the things that makes me feel like I am doing something meaningful is that each and every day is a chance to share my faith, especially with kids. I love getting to be the one to teach them that, yes, Padre Pio did have the wounds of Jesus in his hands and they HURT, or that God knew Mary was going to be Jesus’s mother even before she was born.
I love teaching Fifth Grade Religion for many reasons, but the #1 reason might be that I get to teach the mysteries of the rosary. We spend a large chunk of our year making our way through each set of mysteries. The mysteries of the Rosary have a lot of those mind-blowing moments that make 5th graders drop their jaw, and those are the moments that make me love my job.
For the past two months, we have been diving deep into the Joyful mysteries. We have spent time reading the passages in the Bible and discussing why these events are so important to our faith. After each mystery, I ask my students, “What do you think God is trying to tell us with this mystery?”. They come up with some incredible answers- Trust God even when it’s hard, find joy in Jesus and those around, and look to God when you need help. Their faith makes mine stronger. They also come up with some great questions/thoughts- “Do you think Mary was scared?” “Oh, Elizabeth was kind of like her best friend!” and even more.
For our project over the Joyful Mysteries, students had to write a summary of each mystery and include two illustrations to go with it. They put it all together when they were done to create “The Joyful Mysteries at a Glance” poster. They took a lot of pride in their work, and the finished product looked great! Now onto the Luminous Mysteries...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ms. Brekke joined RCS in 2018. She attended Holy Spirit Grade School and St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, KS). She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education, Emphasis in English as a Second Language, from Kansas State University. To learn more about Ms. Lindsay or any of our teachers visit rcskck.org/faculty-and-staff.
