A Heart for God's People- Resources for Kids on Combating Racism

Hi friends- Over the past few weeks we have certainly seen an explosion of discussion and action surrounding the topic of racism. I have been doing a lot of listening, reading, praying, and reflecting. I'm not here today to write at length, but I did want to share the fruit of some of my prayer and planning as I consider the conversations about social justice that need to be expanded on in my classroom when we return in the fall. In this post I have a few resources for you that maybe will help with the conversations and prayer you are sharing with your kids at home. I also am going to link to a few of the tools that have been meaningful for me and that I am tucking away to use later in my classroom. If you have found any great resources for Catholic kids about the topics of racism, I'd love for you to add them in the comments or send me an email!

***A couple of updates based on some feedback/questions:
-Some of the Saints on the Litany have not always been portrayed as Black in art. The truth is that unless we have a modern photograph of the Saint, we don't know their skin color. But, all of these Saints are either from Africa or have African ancestry, so I believe that they are good patrons to call on for an eradication of racism in the world, even if some of them did not experience racism themselves based on their time/location in history.
-I certainly did not intend for this to be a "one and done" activity or something only relegated to a unit on social justice (I realize it might sound like that in the paragraph above- I meant more all the ways we incorporate Catholic Social Teaching throughout our classroom and school year). I hope that these Saints find their way into your home/classroom's bookshelves, art, and conversations year round.
-I also hope that this list is seen as an opportunity to share the stories of these Saints.They have not been Canonized (or on their way) because of the color of their skin, but because they allowed Jesus to transform their hearts. I am not lifting them up as an example exclusively because they are Black, but because they lived heroic virtue and give us an example to follow.
-I hope that helps! I'm always open for dialogue and offering the best tools I can share. 

First, I think that there is no better prayer right now than to be asking for the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to fall upon our world. I have been praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart daily and began the Novena this week. It's never too late to join in.
Litany to the Sacred Heart printable
Novena to the Sacred Heart printable
Other Sacred Heart Resources, including a printable Sacred Heart statue

I've also been asking the Black Saints who've gone before us to intercede for our country from Heaven. I created a litany of some of my favorite Black Saints as well as a blank version for you to list your own. This summer would be a great time to choose a few Black Saints to learn more about. I've started working on finding resources especially for our American Black Saints/Blesseds/Venerables/Servants of God and hope to be able to share those with you soon.
Just a note- I think Saints from all eras, locations, and races should be shared with kids all the time- in our books, art, stories, and examples. But just like we call on certain Saints for certain circumstances- like a patron of a particular job or specific illness- I think it only makes sense to ask these holy men and women to be praying for us in light of current events.

Click here for my Litany of Black Saints:

And click here for the blank Litany to fill in yourself:

Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a literal Saint Ninja and has tons of resources on her social media about these brothers and sisters who went before us. Most recently, she has created a beautiful Black Saints Novena on Instagram. I encourage you to go read their stories and then share the stories of how they loved Jesus and lived with heroic virtue.

I also believe that great solace and direction can be found in listening to the truth of Scripture especially when the world around us is so divisive. I chose five passages from throughout the Bible that helped me reflect and pray on the true universality of the Body of Christ. Each page in this printable has one passage to read and a few reflection questions for each step of Lectio Divina, as well as a little room for your child to journal. I think that these Lectio Divina pages would be most powerful for 4th graders and up, but you could certainly read the passages (or a shortened version) with any age and use them as a springboard of conversation about God's love for all His people and the inherent dignity and worth of each person.

Click here to get the five Lectio Divina pages:

The USCCB has resources about racism for every grade level here. I encourage to browse through and pull out any talking points or resources that would help you guide your kids.

Jenna from Lazy Liturgical has this  free God's Colors printable to help start conversations with your young child about diversity.

The book Everyone Belongs from Loyola Press is recommended by the USCCB.

Colors of Creation from TAN books starts with the Creation of the world using the colors green, blue, etc. and concludes with the pinnacle of Creation- humankind, shown with all of the colors of people around the world.

 Lacy from Catholic Icing pulled together a great list of picture books about diversity for kids.

There's also this list: Books about Racism and Social Justice from Common Sense Media.

In the Image and Likeness of God Newsletter for Parents from the National Catholic Education Association

Personally, I have benefited greatly from listening to these videos/podcasts, and know that some of this content would also be helpful to my middle schoolers or high school youth group. They would be worth the listen as a parent or teacher, and them maybe you can listen with your older child.
Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman addresses the USCCB in 1989
Fr. Josh Johnson Rosary for Racial Reconciliation
Fr. John Johnson Podcast Episode Healing the Racial Divide
Catholic Stuff You Should Know Podcast Episode: One Congregation
Beyond the Pew: Talking to Your Kids About Race


We are united together as a Church living out the call written in the Catechism that says:
"The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it: Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design." ~CCC 1935

I will continue to pray, and hope you join me, for a rooting out of the sin of racism in my own heart and in the world around us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Prayer for the Faithful Departed

Today, All Souls Day, we commemorate those who have died.  The best way to remember our loved ones, and all the faithful departed, is to pray for them.  To help my students do that (and in connection to our litany to the Saints last week) I created these prayer cards with the Eternal Rest prayer on one side and a place to list specific people on the back.

We plan to use this prayer card for the rest of the month as November is dedicated to praying for all souls in purgatory.  It would also be a great resource any time of the year to teach about the Spiritual Works of Mercy, or for kids who are experiencing a death and working through grief.  (You may be interested in my post on Helping Kids Grieve.)

Both the images of the Paschal Lamb and the Paschal Candle draw our minds to heaven, to the mercy of the Lamb of God, and to the hope of eternity with Him.

Click on the image below to print your own prayer cards.  It is a two sided printable with four cards per page.

How are you praying with your kids this All Souls Day?

Good To Me {September 11th, Sandy Hook, and Fear as a Teacher}

This is actually a repost from exactly two years ago.  I try not to recycle topics too often, but when I reread this recently, it the emotions and struggles struck me all over again.  There are a lot of hard, hard things happening in the world that of course trickle over into our schools.  Going through the procedures for a possible school intruder are now a part of our normal routines, just like fire and tornado drills. It isn't getting easier to be at the front of my classroom- the weight of the responsibility is something I have been made more aware of each new day.  All over again, it makes me so grateful for the hope we have in Christ at that I am in a teaching position where He can be the answer to all of our fears.

Today, I had to explain to 21 ten and eleven-year-olds what September 11th was.
A day that is forever imprinted in my memory happened before they were even born.

But after listening to this Presidential Proclamation over morning announcements at the beginning of the school day, I was surprised with, "Miss Bogner, what's September 11th?"  Amazingly, while a few students knew (or thought they knew) something about the events of 9/11/2001, many had only heard the date thrown around as the name of an event out of context to their lives and understanding. 

How do you talk to kids about such a tragedy?  How do you honor the sacrifices made without delving into darkness with ones too young to deserve a loss of innocence?  How do you tell the history without frightening them about the future?

It didn't help that memories and emotions I didn't expect came rolling over me as I listened to the proclamation and then tried to explain what had happened and why we need to remember.

The best that I could do?  I compared it to why we learn about the atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust.  "So you know that life is valuable, so that you know what happened in the past when people chose death instead, and so you can be the one to make sure it never happens again."

High walking orders for 5th graders.

It is interesting that last night I happened to read this article that has been floating around facebook.  Written as an open letter to teachers from the mother of a Sandy Hook victim, I cried through the whole thing.  When Sandy Hook happened, I avoided the media about it- switched off the TV, didn't scour the internet like most for survivor stories, changed the topic when friends wanted to talk about it.  I felt cold and unfeeling, but honestly, I couldn't handle it.  It is not that I was struck by fear that it could happen in my school, but more that you can't help living through a bit of that experience if you are a teacher.  A few days after the Sandy Hook massacre, I was on my prep period while my kids were at PE.  Sitting alone in my classroom, I glanced up at all of the empty desks, and started to cry.  I knew that my kids were safe, that they were just downstairs in the gym.  But I could help but think about a classroom of empty desks, and what it would be like if the students never came back to sit in them.  If even one was missing.  Something in the article that resounded with me was a statement by a teacher who went back after the shooting.  She said she did it because "They are my kids."  It is so true.  They may annoy me, challenge me, work me to death, disobey me, try my patience, and make my day difficult, but they are still my kids.  I would die for them, and that makes it even harder to talk about Sandy Hook, September 11th, and other times when life has been discarded like it means nothing.

And where was God in all of this, you may be thinking?  Now that I am at a Catholic School I don't have to talk around or avoid the real things that kids need to hear on a day like today.

They need to know that they can pray.  They can pray for the victims.  For the survivors.  For the sad souls whose actions hurt others.

They need to know that they can go to God in their fear.  They can be honest with Him about their feelings.  That they can put their trust in Him and know that He will carry them through any situation.

They need to know that they have adults who care about them and that they can talk to them about tragedy.  That there are good people who will always put them first, like their moms and dads and teachers, as well as people they don't know whose job it is to protect them.  Knowing that my brothers-in-law Steven and Luke, a firefighter and soldier respectively, have chosen to put their lives on the line for perfect strangers makes me love them more and reminds me of the selflessness of so many who strive to counteract evil working in the hearts of men.

And they need to know that God is good.  All the time.  God is good, no matter what the world around us is shouting, no matter what they see on the news, no matter the situation surrounding them.

So this song has been sticking with me lately.

"I steady my heart on the ground of your goodness.  When I'm bowed down with sorrow, I will lift up your name, and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy, because you are good to me."

You can get this song (and a gorgeous version of Come Thou Fount) free right now on Noise Trade.   (Still there two years later!) And/or you can get Audrey's new album, too.  Your heart won't regret it.

"Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." ~Psalm 23:6

Helping Kids Grieve

Saying goodbye is never easy.  Teaching kids to say goodbye in difficult and seemingly permanent circumstances is even harder.  This year, my school went through a season of loss that was heavy.

A longtime staff member died unexpectedly.  Three school families lost their fathers, one to a long battle with illness and two suddenly.  Staff members experienced the loss of grandparents, parents, and grandchildren.  So many deaths in such a small community hit us hard, and we were left to pick up the pieces and carry on for the kids.

So what did we do?  What did our classrooms look like with kids actively grieving?  How did we teach the kids the religious, social, and moral skills needed to navigate these waters, when many of them were experiencing death for the first time?

I am not an expert, and I have no formal training in grief counseling, etc.  But I am a teacher that spends hours with kids each day, and had to learn quickly how to help them try and understand hard things.  From a pure teacher-to-teacher standpoint, I'd like to share some of the things that I did in my classroom and what we did as a school community to help the students in our school grieve and the support the families that needed us.

This situation is one chief reason that I am grateful to be in a Catholic School.  Everything we talked about could ultimately point to the truth of Christ and the hope of heaven.  That is why we are there, after all. 

Ideas for a school community during a time of loss:

1. Communicate visitation and funeral information to the larger school community and clarify if the family has any immediate needs. Offer a collection to the school families towards the chosen memorial- it might be easier for some to funnel their contributions through the school or be given more time to donate besides at just the funeral services.
2. When appropriate, have a memorial or prayer service held during school hours, especially if many students will not be able to attend the funeral. This was done after the sudden death of one of our staff members.  Our priest joined the kids in sharing happy memories, prayed for him and his family, and focused on heaven.  It was short, age appropriate for even our little kids, and was necessary for our school community.
3. Have a Mass said for the repose of the soul of the person who died.  If possible, schedule it at a time when students and staff can attend.
4. Think of some ways to creatively remember the person who has passed away.  Have a picture, statue, etc. dedicated somewhere in the school building.  Have a special dress up day, meal, or snack celebrating something the person loved.
5. Give the opportunity to support the family after the initial grief period.  While many families are inundated with food and offers of help immediately after a death, our school sent gift cards to restaurants and cash about a month after their loss to help provide continued support over a longer period of time.
6. Offer a school Rosary, Holy Hour, or spiritual bouquet of some kind and communicate those prayers to the family.  We made prayer cards for the kids with the Eternal Rest prayer on one side and the person's picture on the other.  We used that to pray together, and many students kept that card taped on their desk for the rest of the year.
7. Send handmade cards with personal messages from the students.  This was a great opportunity to teach the kids about how to help someone who is grieving- what to write and how we can support them.
   

Click here for a copy of the prayer cards we made- You could add a picture, a name, etc. to the other side.

Here are some examples of cards made by students for family members:

The staff member who died was known for loving Mountain Dew and donuts, so after our school prayer service, each class enjoyed a snack as a way to remember him.  While we ate, the kids freely shared some of their favorite memories of the person.  We were all laughing and crying, and it was a good positive outlet.

He also wore a plaid flannel shirt nearly everyday, so on a chosen day we all wore plaid to remember him.  We took an all school picture and it was featured in the yearbook.

Special care has to be taken when the loss directly affects someone in your classroom.  Here are some ideas for a classroom during a time of loss:

1. If a student or parent is suffering from a long term illness, make sure that the students in your classroom support them during that time.  Actively and frequently pray for the person and send get well cards and signs.
2. After a loss, speak openly to the kids.  Allow time for them to share their grief and concerns as well.  Whenever possible, especially in the early days, offer a safe place or designated person where the kids know that they will have someone to talk to.  We don't have a school counselor, etc. on staff, but there were days when we had some retired teachers, volunteers, and our priest in the building so that kids would have someone to see if they needed.  
3. Allow the kids to send cards and letters to the family of the person that died.  As was mentioned before, this is a great teaching opportunity to guide them through the etiquette of grief.  This experience is teaching them to live out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in a real way.
4. On that note, if a student in your class has lost a close family member, work with the other kids on how to support that student when they return to school.  We discussed how the student might not want to talk about it, or they might want to tell someone everything.  We practiced things to say to their friend and how to help them when they got back.  
5. Let the kids brainstorm practical ways they would like to be involved in helping.  Organizing a spiritual bouquet, a Hour Hour, having a Mass said, starting a fundraiser- kids want to help.  Let them use that fuel to do good.
6. Lift up the soul of the person in prayer.  Pray for their families frequently.  Use formal prayers, but also let your students hear you pray openly in your own words, and let the kids that wish to do the same.
7. Send home a care package of resources.  You can include booklets about grief and loss both for adults and children.  Send a card or note.  Give a special gift that would remind them of the person they love.  With kids, I like to give a special age appropriate journal or notebook with new pens, stickers, post its, etc.  I write them a note encouraging them to use the journal to write and draw their feelings, memories, worries, and prayers.  They also can use the journal as a place to put special pictures or cards they receive during this time.

 

There are a few books I have used with kids during a time of loss.  No book is perfect, but I know that they can create opportunities for conversations or give kids a source when they are not ready to talk.

When Someone Dies: A Children's Grief Workbook This one is probably my favorite resource that I have recently used.  It is an inexpensive "workbook" that can be kept by the kid.  It would probably be good for 2nd-6th graders.  I liked the personal letters inside with stories of other kids who had experienced the death of someone they love, the Bible stories, the practical ideas for helping, and the information about the meaning and symbols in the Catholic funeral liturgy.

Somebody I Know Has Died is another inexpensive booklet that could be given to kids to keep.  Contrary to the juvenile illustration on the cover, the Q&A content on the inside is written at much more of a junior high reading level.  While not impressed with the layout and design, the content still could make it worth using.

What Happens When We Die (Children's Bible Basics) is a book I have in my resource library.  It focuses on the meaning and truth of heaven and is told through the eyes of a young boy talking to his mom.  It would be good for lower elementary.

I sent home a care package to one of my students after a death in her family and I included the first two books above, cards from her friends, and a special note, as well as this new journal, pens, stickers, etc.  We also include some resources in the care package for other members of her family.

While I don't ever want to have to repeat a year like this one, we all know that death is a natural part of life.  We are not meant for this world, and while we long for heaven, we have to comfort those that are still here.  I hope that these ideas will be useful to you if you ever find yourself struggling to help kids get through grief.  Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas that could work well for others.

Other resources/ideas can be found here and here and here.

"And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'”

~Revelation 21:5

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Linking up this post with the #BISsisterhood Link-Up // GOODBYE

Go visit for more posts on saying goodbye.

Good to Me

Today, I had to explain to 21 ten and eleven-year-olds what September 11th was.
A day that is forever imprinted in my memory happened before they were even born.

But after listening to this Presidential Proclamation over morning announcements at the beginning of the school day, I was surprised with, "Miss Bogner, what's September 11th?"  But amazingly, while a few students knew (or thought they knew) something about the events of 9/11/2001, many had only heard the date thrown around as the name of an event out of context to their lives and understanding.  

How do you talk to kids about such a tragedy?  How do you honor the sacrifices made without delving into darkness with ones too young to deserve a loss of innocence?  How do you tell the history without frightening them about the future?

It didn't help that memories and emotions I didn't expect came rolling over me as I listened to the proclamation and then tried to explain what had happened and why we need to remember.

The best that I could do?  I compared it to why we learn about the atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust.  "So you know that life is valuable, so that you know what happened in the past when people chose death instead, and so you can be the one to make sure it never happens again."

High walking orders for 5th graders.

It is interesting that last night I happened to read this article that has been floating around facebook.  Written as an open letter to teachers from the mother of a Sandy Hook victim, I cried through the whole thing.  When Sandy Hook happened, I avoided the media about it- switched off the TV, didn't scour the internet like most for survivor stories, changed the topic when friends wanted to talk about it.  I felt cold and unfeeling, but honestly, I couldn't handle it.  It is not that I was struck by fear that it could happen in my school, but more that you can't help living through a bit of that experience if you are a teacher.  A few days after the Sandy Hook massacre, I was on my prep period while my kids were at PE.  Sitting alone in my classroom, I glanced up at all of the empty desks, and started to cry.  I knew that my kids were safe, that they were just downstairs in the gym.  But I could help but think about a classroom of empty desks, and what it would be like if the students never came back to sit in them.  If even one was missing.  Something in the article that resounded with me was a statement by a teacher who went back after the shooting.  She said she did it because "They are my kids."  It is so true.  They may annoy me, challenge me, work me to death, disobey me, try my patience, and make my day difficult, but they are still my kids.  I would die for them, and that makes it even harder to talk about Sandy Hook, September 11th and other times when life has been discarded like it means nothing.

And where was God in all of this, you may be thinking?  Now that I am at a Catholic School I don't have to talk around or avoid the real things that kids need to hear on a day like today.

They need to know that they can pray.  They can pray for the victims.  For the survivors.  For the sad souls whose actions hurt others.

They need to know that they can go to God in their fear.  They can be honest with Him about their feelings.  That they can put their trust in Him and know that He will carry them through any situation.

They need to know that they have adults who care about them and that they can talk to them about tragedy.  That there are good people who will always put them first, like their moms and dads and teachers, as well as people they don't know whose job it is to protect them.  Knowing that my brothers-in-law Steven and Luke, a firefighter and soldier respectively, have chosen to put their lives on the line for perfect strangers makes me love them more and reminds me of the selflessness of so many who strive to counteract evil working in the hearts of men.

And they need to know that God is good.  All the time.  God is good, no matter what the world around us is shouting, no matter what they see on the news, no matter the situation surrounding them.

So this song has been sticking with me lately.

"I steady my heart on the ground of your goodness.  When I'm bowed down with sorrow, I will lift up your name, and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy, because you are good to me."

You can get this song (and a gorgeous version of Come Thou Fount) free right now on Noise Trade.  And/or you can get Audrey's new album, too.  Your heart won't regret it.

"Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." ~Psalm 23:6