Working title: The Śro Story

Here we can write some notes about the "Catholic Culture Experience" towards a how-to, what-why book.

The story of Środowisko

What it is and isn't (Compare to the white rose) The Środowisko of JPII Not a conference, camp, vbs, or program

School of Prayer

• Mass
• Liturgy of the hours
• Lectio Divina
• Rosary
• Adoration and Confession
• Silence

School of Communication

• Video

School of Community

• Dishes

School of Ars Ecclesia

• Icons
• Mosaics
• Stained glass windows
• Illuminated manuscripts

General Daily Schedule

• 7:30 Rise
  • In the beginning, we woke them up with a CD of bagpipe music and a strategically-placed stereo. It has since evolved as technology has evolved, and the girls are woken up by a Pandora playlist on an iPad. Some would wake up earlier than 7:30 to shower and get ready for the day, even as early as 6 AM, leading to the enforcement of a "no showering before 7" policy that sleepier kids are happy to oblige to.
• 8:15 Lauds
  • The mornings always begin with Morning Prayer, usually chanted.
• 8:30 Breakfast
  • Usually breads and bagels and cold cereal, though sometimes pancakes and sausage on a morning or two, breakfast is our way of getting the girls excited for the day - it's the only meal we eat indoors besides snack and the occasional dessert, and we try to show cool or inspirational videos to get their creativity going before we jump into work (the videos range from funny, touching, dramatic, musical, or cats).
• 9:00 Tasks
  • Our version of "ora et labora" has everyone doing light clean-up in the morning after breakfast. After arrival, people sign up for a task, which may be dumping trash, vacuuming the church, watering plants, or straightening up bathrooms. Every person has a job, one which never takes more than 15 minutes, to keep the space clean and efficient for the week.
• 9:15 Rotations
  • Each group rotates through a set of activities during this time slot. The rotations used to include campfire entertainment and working in the kitchen to set up for meals, but it now only includes Mass preparation, Lectio Divina, Liturgy of the Hours preparation, and whatever job may need to be done for the day (such as prep work for the Thursday night talent show, etc)
• 10:00 Great Room Meeting
  • At this point of the day, we meet back in the main space for a light snack (which ends early enough to meet the hour fast before Mass), and an introduction to the projects and theme for the week. A presentation is usually given by leaders, which comprises videos, Scripture, images, Prezis and Powerpoints, books, and so forth. Here, the main theme for the week is presented as well as the beginning stages of whatever personal project has been chosen to represent the week.
• 10:15 Group Projects
  • Group video projects are also introduced. Each group has their own table, and each of those group leaders has a folder of papers and resources so the group can begin working on projects together.