Written by Deacon Kenneth Scheiber, deacon and theology teacher, St. Mary’s Ryken, kenneth.scheiber@smrhs.org
Every Catholic school in recent years has been considering how to enhance its Catholic identity in a world where there are fewer priests and religious in roles of teaching and administration in Catholic schools. It comes as no surprise that many schools, like mine, have become more interested in utilizing techniques in curriculum permeation. Curriculum permeation refers to enhancing the Catholic identity within the academic curriculum. Far from being a top-down imposition on the teacher from administration, curriculum permeation is about collaboration. The goal is to find ways of enhancing Catholic identity using the established content of the disciplines that are already being taught but reimagining them with a faith element that plays to the comfort and strengths of the teacher.
This past year, St. Mary’s-Ryken High School (SMR) was in year two of our attempt to bring intentional curriculum permeation to our faculty in the form of our Faith Across the Curriculum (FAC) initiative. At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, each academic department volunteered one member to participate in our program for the following year. The goal each year is for the classroom teacher, in whatever content area, to organically enhance what he or she is already doing by discussing relevant Catholic ideas, figures, events, or documents. The participants’ responsibilities are:
- Over the summer, read the chapter relevant to your discipline in Educating for Eternity by Dr. Brett Salkeld as a stimulus material.
- During faculty re-entry in August, we have a one-hour workshop for brainstorming and discussing different possible approaches—such as values infusion, Catholic foundational documents, or interdisciplinary assessment.
- During the school year, in each quarter, the FAC coordinator documents at least one example of a successful lesson or assessment that could be utilized in that course content going forward.
Let’s just take a brief look at a few instances where SMR teachers, across different departments, enhanced Catholic identity with their lessons in the 2024-2025 school year.
Science: Honors Biology
Mrs. Diane Carter utilized a Catholic foundational documents approach to her classes. This consisted of using Catholic documents or figures to introduce key units of her courses throughout the year. In Q1, she introduced cell theory using the life of St. Albert the Great. In Q2, she opened her genetics unit with a discussion of the hopes and hazards of gene therapy using observations from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. In Q3 and Q4, she not only used excerpts of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ as a hook for her unit on biodiversity but also incorporated the document into the curriculum of her AP Environmental Science course!
Art: Painting
In painting, Mrs. Julia Redding demonstrated values infusion by leading some brilliant faith-inspired art projects. In Q1, students reflected on the theme of “light” in scripture and painted lighthouses of Maryland. In Q3, they explored The Legend of the Dogwood Tree and created watercolor studies of dogwood blossoms. In Q4, students were then given the task of creating a still life with Christian symbolism along the lines of Rachel Ruysch’s 1711 still life painting—using watercolor techniques. Each of these beautiful student artworks was eventually put on display in the Romuald Hall Lobby.
History: AP US History
Mr. Jason Early devised some great lessons for AP US History using Values-Infusion to bring out Catholic themes and essential knowledge relevant to studying the history of our country. In Q1, the students read primary sources that reflected dominant practices in Colonial religion to understand some of the key differences between Catholic and Protestant outlooks in colonial America. In Q2, Mr. Early had an innovative summative assessment that asked students to analyze the major events of the Gilded Age in light of Catholic social teaching principles. In Q3, the students read excerpts of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on just war theory and were asked to consider how those saints would have responded to US Imperialism of the late 19th Century. Finally, they ended the year with a summative project that asked the students to consider the biblical themes that recurred in US History throughout the year.
English: Literature and Composition
Mrs. Tirzah Somers utilized the strategy of values-infusion to introduce Catholic themes and learning objectives. In Q1, the students were asked to engage with each text based on what it said about truth. Whether language was being used to communicate truth or falsehood—and the consequences thereof. In Q2, the students completed a thought-provoking formative essay about masculinity and femininity. The essay prompt required them to use examples from their class reading of To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as stimulus materials provided by the teacher about the respective virtues related to masculinity and femininity. In Q3, during the reading of The Hobbit, students were asked to consider biblical parallels and Catholic symbolism present in Bilbo’s adventures. In Q4, students were asked to read Fern by Jean Toomer and perform an in-class writing assignment about the importance of the religious symbolism in the short story.
As you can see, faith across the curriculum has been a wonderful addition to our school’s academic program that has enhanced student learning, teacher imaginations, and Catholic identity. Our FAC process has been encouraging students and teachers to make connections between the target content and Catholic ideas lying just beneath the surface, asking to be brought out. In some cases, the FAC process helps us see course content with new eyes or, perhaps, see old things become new again. It is a way to make the faith and the target content come alive again for students and teachers in authentic ways.
