1. Course Philosophy
The Senior High Religious Studies Program engages students in the Search for Meaning. The approach does not limit or deny any stage of adolescent psychological or spiritual growth. Instead, it offers to adolescents a way of realizing and fulfilling their possibilities as human beings.

The course on Belonging is intended to help students understand what it means to be “fully alive.” It does so by recognizing that one of the primary needs of adolescents is to experience a sense of belonging. In seeking to belong, they question and challenge those values which will eventually become convictions worth sharing with others. In their quest to find meaning in belonging, there is the constant interaction between what the gospel teaches and the human experience.

2. General Outcomes/Themes
The student will:

• Explore an overview of world religions(Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
• Examine the principles that guide Catholics in understanding their role in shaping culture
• Understand that belonging to the Christian community involves witness and service.
• Understand how the work of Jesus continues in the world through the Catholic Church.
• Explore relationships with self, others and God from a Catholic perspective.

3. Assessment
A person’s relationship with God is a matter of conscience, the internal forum of the soul. God alone is the arbiter of souls (and then again, who can plumb the depths of Divine Mercy?). It is important, therefore, that we avoid the grading or evaluation of a student’s faith.

We grade the knowledge the student has acquired based on the program of studies and the skills the student is able to show in articulating his/her knowledge.

A wide range of assessment information is used in the development of a student’s final grade. Individualized assessments provide specific information regarding student progress and overall performance in class. Student assessment may vary from student to student to adapt to differences in student needs, learning styles, preferences, and paces. Not all assignments are used for assessment.

Course Work and Evaluation

1. Christian Action Assignment: 15% (suggested minimum hours of service = 10 – typically these would not be instructional hours)
2. Comparative World Religions: 20%
3. Course work: 65% (may include assignments, presentations, journals, reviews, notes, research projects, portfolios, exams and quizzes)

4. Primary Resources
Christ and Culture, Concacan, Ottawa, Ontario, 2001

Exploring the Religions of our World, Nancy Clemmons, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. 1999.