On May 17 and 18, I attended the Peace Festival at St. Paul High School. Students from elementary schools across the Ottawa Catholic School Board came together to celebrate their efforts to make their schools safe, inclusive, and caring environments. There were many impressive student presentations, including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton students speaking about their SIMPLE initiative - Students in Motion Putting Love Everywhere, and St. Anne students candy cane reindeer fundraising project in support of Roger's House. St. Andrew's student Olivia Clement also spoke about her campaign to protect polar bears, an endangered species.
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| Excited Students await start of Peace Festival |
http://animoto.com/play/dGBW1Qvs1UgQkmplBalMHg
Congratulations are extended to all students and staff who helped out with the organization of the Festival - and particularly, Ms. Luce Paradis, Principal of Assumption Catholic School, and Mr. Bill Barrett, Principal of St. Paul H S.
Peer Assistance Camp
On Friday, May 18, I also attended the annual Peer Assistance Camp. Peer leaders from all of our high schools spend two days at the Y Outdoor Camp in Dunrobin to receive training in peer assistance, to celebrate student voice, and to have loads of fun. At the camp, I had lunch with students from St. Francis Xavier and was impressed with their commitment to student leadership and involvement in this growing school community. Congratulations to the event organizer Ms. Joanne Gosselin, Coordinator of Student Success - Secondary.
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| Student leaders in Peer Assistance Getting into Motion |
St Nicholas Adust High School - a Special Place
Last Thursday, CTV Ottawa's Amazing People featured a story on a recent graduate from St. Nicholas High School, John Leclair. This story is indicative of the amazing work of the staff of this school in helping people turn their lives around. The St. Nicholas Graduation Ceremony will take place at Nepean Centrepointe Theatre on June 21.
http://ottawa.ctv.ca/AmazingPeople/
Book Review Beyond The Gods & Back
Author Reginald W. Bibby subtitles this book Religion's Demise and Rise and Why it Matters. In fact, Bibby argues less about the demise of religion in Canada and more about the increasing religious polarization of society as people either "take a pass" on organized religion or firm up their church membership. He acknowledges that since the 1960s, in Canada and most of the world, the proportion of people ambivalent to religion has grown. In Canada, 40% of the population "are sitting in the middle of the God continuum, undecided on belief versus non-belief."
However, rather than be troubled by the growing religious polarization and distressed over the drop in church attendance, Bibby is convinced that there continues to be "a market for religion". He demonstrates that while research supports the conclusion that membership in organized religions has been on the decline, belief and spirituality continue to be very strong. Furthermore, he notes that with all their incredible break- throughs, science and tecnology have failed to provide plausible and consoling answers to the big "ultimate questions pertaining to the meaning of life and death". He notes that we still need the gods to answer these questions.
With respect to Christianity and specifically the Roman Catholic Church, Bibbly maintains that the time is ripe for a comeback. For one thing, Christianity is the world's fastest growing faith and Catholicism is spreading throughout the world. He also maintains that a large percentage of people currently ambivalent towards religion are now willing to give religion a second look and can be expected to start with the traditions with which they have some kind of affinity." Hence, the Roman Catholic Church has "a unique opportunity and huge maket advantage".
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