Collaboration with local families contributes to evangelization, has mutual benefits

Michelle Samartino | Special to The Michigan Catholic

ST. CLAIR — Already in its second year, the homeschool program at St. Mary Parish and School in St. Clair continues to evolve under the guidance of its pastor, Fr. Michael Zuelch.

With declining Catholic school enrollment throughout the vicariate, it was clear to Fr. Zuelch that something needed to be done, so he challenged his staff to think outside the box.

“Numbers have dropped, so there is a dilemma. But I saw an opportunity with our school that has room for potential,” Fr. Zuelch said.

The idea for a homeschool program began in 2014, when Fr. Zuelch was first appointed to St. Mary Parish. When the pastor began celebrating feast days with the school’s children, the invitation to join in the festivities — which included singing “Happy Birthday” to Mary or partaking in other events — was also extended to the parish’s altar servers, some of whom were homeschooled.

Including the homeschoolers “was organic,” Fr. Zuelch said, “looking at it as a whole and in the importance of human formation, especially in our culture.”

Fr. Zuelch put feelers out to the local homeschool community and found positive feedback. A formal meeting was held, and several families attended. Many of the local families attended a Protestant co-op in the area, and Fr. Zuelch saw an opportunity to extend some of the same benefits in a Catholic setting.

Knowing there was space within the school building that could be utilized, and the desire for Catholic education among the homeschool families, Fr. Zuelch jumped at the chance to enhance Catholic family life within the parish.

“Parents are the foremost educators of their children,” Fr. Zuelch said. “Education and faith are a lived reality, and there is a mutual benefit. It is the obligation of the parent is to educate their children in the truth and faith. As there are many faithful families here, it fits in with the goals of the school and parish.”

In the 2015-16 school year, a “skeleton” program was conceived, and the parish began offering what Fr. Zuelch described as the “organic wedding of family life and religion” at St. Mary.



Homeschool students attend the parish on Tuesdays and Fridays from September through June. Friday begins with school Mass, “where they learn about the beauty of the liturgy and their faith,” Fr. Zuelch said. “This is who we are. These are the dynamics of our times. We are living our faith, and the basis of our education is coming to know the Truth.”

After Mass, homeschool families sign in at the school office. Some stay only for the morning, while others stay the entire day, with classes centered on the classics, art, music, physical education, Latin, theology, Irish dance and more. Students may also come on Tuesdays, when a violin program is offered.

Homeschool families also pay a tuition fee, and currently more than 30 children are involved in the program, according to Geralynn Sutherland, St. Mary School principal.

Homeschool students wear uniforms when they are at St. Mary, Sutherland said, and “as in our parish school program, classes begin and end with prayer, and the faith is integrated into all subjects.”

“We are all meant to live our faith in community, and our program does exactly that. It is wonderful to see families coming together, joyfully supporting and inspiring each other to holiness,” Sutherland said. “This is a common goal of both our parish school and our homeschool program.”

Mark and Traci Beck homeschool their five children, and also take part in the program at St. Mary, driving 45 minutes twice a week.

“We are really happy,” Traci Beck said. “We love that we start the day with Mass, and the kids love it.”

Homeschooling allows the Becks to travel, camp and hunt, and while the family homeschools year round, they are grateful their children can be with other children who are like-minded in their faith and morals.

“God is the center of our lives, and we want to instill that in our children,” Traci Beck said.

Maureen Anderson, homeschool liaison between the parish and the homeschooling parents, expects to see the program continue to grow.

“I thought this would be a good idea and that it would take off,” said Anderson, who also teaches Latin, “because the parish is a part of family life.”

A homeschool parent who also teaches music at the school, Kristin Ries says the integration of the homeschool families and the parish school has been a good experience.

“You wouldn’t know the difference,” she says. “It has been just wonderful.”

There are no geographical requirements with the homeschool program, says Sutherland, just as there are no geographical requirements for the parish school program.

“If families like what we have to offer, we are happy to have them attend,” Sutherland said. “We knew in time the homeschool program would enhance our parish school program, and vice versa.”

While other archdiocesan parishes such as Assumption Grotto in Detroit and SS. Cyril and Methodius in Sterling Heights offer homeschool programs, St. Mary is unique in its integration of the homeschool program with the parish school.

With the program still in its infancy, there may be changes as needs evolve, Fr. Zuelch acknowledges.

“We’ll reassess and develop. There is room for great potential,” Fr. Zuelch said. “These are my families. It’s a beautiful dynamic. Success is not always measured in numbers, it’s one soul at a time. We are all in this together.”

 

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St. Mary School

For information about the homeschool program at St. Mary Parish, call St. Mary School at (810) 329-4150 or the parish at (810) 329-2255.