Annunciation Faith Formation for Children at 1020 Montgomery Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 US - HOW IT ALL BEGAN!

WHY WE ARE "PREP" NOT "CCD"

Many of us who attended public schools grew up attending catechism classes that we called CCD. You may wonder where CCD went since we now call our faith formation classes PREP.

Well, here is the scoop:

CCD stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

The concept of CCD began in Italy in the 16^th Century in the aftermath of the Council of Trent, and was strongly promoted by Pope Pius X in the early twentieth century. It only gained official recognition in the United States in 1934, when the National Catholic Rural Life Conference featured a 'Confraternity Day' as part of its annual meeting. This was in recognition of the need for religious education in rural America and the existence of diocesan and parish units already addressing this need in 19 parishes. Later that same year, the Bishops' Annual Meeting established an Episcopal committee with a national center as a bureau under the Executive Department. The center became operational in 1935, transfered to the Education Department in 1969 and DISSOLVED IN 1974. From 1967, a new organization, the National Conference of Diocesan directors (NCDD) was operated as a part of the NCWC/USCC until 1982 when it became an independent entity. It is currently known as the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership (NCCL).

So, you understand that CCD has been dissolved since 1974. We now refer to what was CCD as faith formation. Here at Annunciation we ran a contest looking for a catchy name years ago. The winner was Parish Religious Education Program, PREP.

PREP HISTORY

After being a satellite parish of St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Altamonte Springs for three years, the Church of Annunciation became a separate and distinct parish in 1982. It was Father Patrick Caverly (now Monsignor) who led our parish through this separation. Fr. Caverly took with him Sr. Natalie Deluca, MHSH and Mrs. Patricia Melley to start up the Religious Education Program.

Sr. Natalie and Mrs. Melley recruited and trained mothers to teach Religious Education in their homes. Sr. Natalie was years ahead of the national trend in her vision for Religious Education and was able to make our PREP program truly innovative from the beginning.

Being well acquainted in the latest research concerning parish catechism praograms, Sr. Natalie decided that the first step toward success was securing a "home" for the public school children to call their own in the faith community. Hence, the construction of the Family Life Center in 1983 whose primary purpose was Religious instruciton for children.

Classes were held during the week for grades 1-8 with early childhood meetings on Sunday mornings. This is the same structure we have today.

In addition to the regular classroom teachings PREP implements different experienced-based enrichments that, hopefully, lead the children to see connections, arrive at a clarity of doctrine and begin to own the core religious messages. These enrichments include art, music, rituals, and liturgial experiences inside the church building.

PREP has always had an integrated curriculum containing scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, retreats, sacramental formation and a myriad of opportunities for service and fellowship.

Many Sisters belonging to the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart have been the corner stones of our program, bringing their own unique gifts and talents to PREP. We are abundantly grateful to all of these faith filled women who have served PREP so faithfully. Among our most notable DRE Mission Helpers are Sr. Natalie Deluca and Sr. Judy Walt. As mentioned above, Sr. Natalie was really the architect of PREP. Sr. Judy not only served successfully as the DRE after Sr. Natalie, but was also responsible for overseeing the creation of our parish child care center.

Mrs. Patricia Melley was not only part of the original PREP staff but served as elementary coordinator, sacramental coordinator, DRE and continues as a catechist to this day. Mrs. Melley has always been one of the greatest creative infuluences of the PREP program.

Today the DRE for PREP is Mary Pat Moriarty. Mary Pat served as coordinator for many years under Sr. Natalie and was a volunteer catechists for over 20 years. After teaching middle school Religion at the Academy, Mrs. Moriarty assumed the leadership in PREP in 2002.

The PREP staff is made up of a remarkable group of dedicated individuals. All of them served as  volunteer catechists in our parish for either the youth or adults before becoming a part of the professional staff. They are:

• Early Childhood Coordinator and VBS Coordinator - Jessica Kellie
• Elementary PREP -  Fran D'Alessandro
• Middle School PREP - Amy Culhane
• Administrative Assistant - Trudy Dulmage
• Registrar - Velia Rodriguez
• Director of Religious Education - Mary Pat Moriarty
   

Scope and Sequence of PREP Curriculum

PREP uses the Sadlier "We Believe" series.

Kindergarten: "God Made the World" God the Creator who gave us the world and Jesus.

Grade 1: "God Loves Us" Explores the Love of God the Creator as manifested through His Son, Jesus and the Church.

Grade 2: "Jesus Shares God's Life" Deepening our relationship with Jesus.

Grade 3: "We Are The Church" We explore our membership in the Catholic Church.

Grade 4: " God's Law Guides Us" Explores the Commandments as our guides to holiness.

Grade 5: " We Meet Jesus In The Sacraments"

Grade 6: "We Are God's People" A look at Salvation History from Old Testament to New Testament.

Grade 7: "Creed" Exploring not just human knowledge, but entering into the very knowledge God has of Himself; probing the mysteries of the divine life to which God has called us.

Grade 8: "Morality" Catholic morality deals with the very reason for our existence as human beings created in God's image.