From classroom to Capitol - teaching children about Catholic social doctrine and political action

National Catholic Reporter, March 2, 2001 by Teresa Malcolm

Earlier in the day, the group had their sack lunch under the Capitol dome. Dinner, provided by St. Patrick's Parish, was cheese pizza and water -- no toppings, no soda -- so the students could have a small experience of the life of poor people, who "can't always get what they want."

Meanwhile, in 13 other schools in the Kansas City area, classrooms lined up their own lobbying activities. They planned to push for initiatives that included fair housing, changes in Medicaid roles and aid for the elderly.

According to Joan Rosenhauer, special projects coordinator at the U.S. Catholic Conference's Department of Social Development and World Peace, it's this component that makes the program a valuable response to the bishops' call to share Catholic social teaching. "Most schools do a very good job involving students in direct service activities -- providing clothing, food, all those responses to immediate needs," she said. "What happens less often in efforts by school and religious education programs is getting kids involved in shaping public policy."

The three sixth-grade classes at St. Thomas More focused their attention on raising the federal minimum wage. Before their planned visits to the local offices of their U.S. Senate and House representatives, they made presentations during all Masses the weekend of Feb. 18. "Raising the minimum wage can help the poor get a better life," St. Thomas More student Katie Kellerman, 12, told NCR.

The question has been raised, Turner said, about "how much is sinking in, and how much the kids are just parroting." However, he said, "they're 12 years old. All teaching at this age, a lot of it is parroting. It's whatever a 12-year-old can absorb."

Pointing to the questions St. Patrick's students had prepared for the Missouri state legislators, Turner said, "Some kids are really sharp. They get it."

Turner has been working with the U.S. Catholic Conference's Department of Social Development and World Peace to disseminate the program in other cities. He and Haney plan to speak about it at the department's Feb. 25-28 Social Ministry Gathering in Washington and at the National Catholic Education Association meeting in Milwaukee April 17-20. They also plan to develop a streamlined version of the program for use in parish religion classes for public school students.

"Most teachers are very anxious to share the Catholic social mission, but they don't have much time," Rosenhauer said. "This makes it so easy for them. They don't have to create lessons, develop all the ideas. It's all there."

As St. Patrick's students reflected on their experience in Jefferson City, Turner noted how often the word fun came up. Recalling how students had played ball on the lawn of the Capitol after lobbying and before Mass, he said, "They intuit the balance you need. It doesn't have to be all work. They made it a fun thing to help others."

In the written evaluations turned in by St. Patrick's sixth and seventh graders, one student summed up what the program had taught: "I have learned that all people need to live a decent life and if you help other people to live a decent life, you are like Jesus in their eyes. Also, God made everyone equal. So if we are all equal, why are there poor people still? There are poor people still because not everyone is listening to God, and we should help them hear."