Summer Youth Week
July 16-21, 2023
Our Parish will continue to offer the Archdiocesan program Totus Tuus. Totus Tuus is a summer Catholic youth program for students entering first grade through High School, dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic Faith through evangelization, catechesis, Christian witness and education. Lisa Vorwerk is serving as director for the 2023 Summer Youth Retreat Week program, overseeing Totus Tuus.
Totus Tuus (Latin for Totally Yours) named after St. John Paul II's papal motto is a fun and energetic parish based summer program for grade school age children and middle and high school youth. The program will be run by two teams of college-aged leaders, consisting of two women and two men per team, who travel through the Archdiocese each week to run programming with the support of parish volunteers.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday May 5, 2023 (Making the deadline does not guarantee enrollment if spots fill.)
*See below for link to online registration.
The Grade School Program is for incoming 1st-6th graders (fall of 2023) and runs Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm. The registration fee is $50 for this program, discounted to $25 if an adult is volunteering 5 days for the program or serving in a lead role. Children learn about Christ and the Catholic Church through lessons and saint visits. They experience Christ through daily prayer, Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation. Fun activities such as games, songs, skits and recess help children learn that it is cool to be Catholic!
Middle School and High School students are invited to attend the free evening program from 7:30-9:45pm Sunday through Thursday. The program includes games, instruction, small group discussions, quiet meditation, prayer and fellowship. The vibrant, faithful college-aged team interact in such a way as to continually offer a dialogue and to challenge young people to embrace a life of discipleship.
Lisa Vorwerk will be serving as Director of the daytime Totus Tuus Program. Youth Minister Grace Makowski will be onsite throughout the week coordinating the teen volunteers during the day, and provide supervision of the evening Middle/High School program. Teen volunteers will be needed for the full-day grade school Totus Tuus program (service hours awarded). For in-depth program information, visit http://stlyouth.org/totustuus.
Leadership Help: We are looking for additional adult helpers to round out our leadership team, especially a tech savvy someone to fill our secretary/communications role. Another need is for 1-2 people to assist and serve alongside the director.
Adult volunteers for the grade school Totus Tuus program will be needed during the day. Adult and teen volunteers for the grade school Totus Tuus program will be needed assisting the Totus Tuus team in the classroom and/or assisting with recess, overseeing lunch time to give leadership & team a break, or providing lunch for the Totus Tuus team.
Host Families for housing the Totus Tuus teams: our parish will be receiving two teams consisting of two men & two women each and with the men and women being housed separately. Host families are asked to provide sleeping arrangements, dinner Sunday Evening, continental breakfast and possibly snacks, 2-4 team members per host family. Housing for Team members takes place Saturday to Friday evening/Saturday morning. Team members provide their own transportation.
Team Dinner Host: families of the parish are asked to host the team for dinner at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. A family may prepare and serve the meal or take the team out to dinner. This allows more families to be involved and provides an opportunity for the team to interact with families of the parish.
Any questions or for additional information, contact:
Lisa Vorwerk (314) 965-3985 (x2818), parishcre@sgmparish.org