How do you begin your middle school sessions?

Canonization 2014-The Power of the Cross (JEFFREY BRUNO/ALETEIA)

Do you have special rituals for the beginning of your class? Right now as the catechetical year begins, it’s a good time to review the ways we start our middle school sessions. Of course, we begin with prayer, but we have to ask ourselves, are we engaging kids and helping them really talk to God? Or are they passively listening to prayerful words spoken or read by someone else? Are we giving them rituals that help them transition into our sessions so they’re engaged, or are we sending them a message that encourages them to tune us out?

The first five minutes of your class or youth meeting set an important tone, and the last thing anyone wants is for opening prayers to become items on a checklist, or worse, the ways we settle everyone down. (I’ve seen it happen and I’m sure you have too.) That’s why we have to…

Choose Group Prayers Carefully!

This summer I took a catechetical methods class taught by the wonderful Nancy Cunningham, Pastoral Associate at Sts. Simon and Jude Parish in Huntington Beach, CA. Nancy began each class with a different, beautiful prayer she had carefully chosen for us catechists. Although these prayers really spoke to me, I wouldn’t use them for my middle schoolers, and I’m sure Nancy would agree. That’s because we catechists were at her class by choice. We were, for the most part, open to prayer. Most middle schoolers, on the other hand, aren’t at our sessions by their own choice. They’re coming from different backgrounds, school experiences, and family situations. They’re distracted. They’re worried about how they are perceived by everyone else. Just because a prayer works for me, it doesn’t mean my middle schoolers will be moved by it.

So how do we open the door to prayer for them? Last year I began every middle school session with the same YouTube video. It displayed the words of the Apostles’ Creed against great works of religious art and an inspiring soundtrack.  I dimmed the lights and invited everyone to relax and take it all in. You could say we were just hanging out together, but there was much more going on.

For one thing, we engaged the students at a sensory level, through powerful music and great visuals. We gave them a ritual they could look forward to (and shouldn’t that be an essential part of prayer rituals?). Although we began nearly every session the same way, we sometimes stood and read the words of the prayer together.  So by the end of the year, most students had the Creed memorized, thanks in part to another weekly project which I’ll tell you about next time.  The video is below. (See if you can watch without getting a little teary eyed!)

Now I’m on the hunt for a video with the words to a Marian prayer like the Memorare or the Hail, Holy Queen. So far I haven’t had much luck–this may end up as a DIY project before the school year starts in October.

What about you? How do you start your middle school sessions? Do you have a prayer ritual, or do you like mix things up? Share your ideas in the comments section below.