Running Start for School: Supplies Drive

For Wednesday, July 29th

The middle school team is winning by 4,300 points!

Come on, high school students---

who wants to win that free ticket to Valley Fair?

Donate your supplies today!

Continue to donate supplies through Sunday, August 2nd in the church gathering space (look for the blue bins) or in the parish center office.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far...

you're making a difference for someone in need!

Iron Chef and Swimming!

Wednesday, August 5th

10:00 am-3:00 pm

Sign up by Monday, August 3rd!

Open to all St. Francis of Assisi parish youth entering grades 6-12.
Students will sign up in teams of 2-4 people. Students will participate in one of two divisions: high school or middle school. One winner will be chosen from each division. That winning team will be awarded the coveted Golden Spatula.

Each team will need one ‘host kitchen’ and one adult leader. The leader will be given the secret ingredient ahead of time. The secret ingredient will be revealed to participants at 10 am on Wednesday, August 6th. At that time the students may begin planning and preparing their secret dish. Students have until 12 Noon to finish their dish.

It is permissible to use portions of a recipe that already exists. It is also permissible to accept help from adults, however the majority of the planning and cooking must be done by the students. The secret ingredient must be included in the dish.

Each team must also think of a creative name or title for their dish. The title should give a hint at what the dish is made out of, what it tastes like, what the inspiration is, etc. This will help to entice the judges!

Each team must also prepare a list of ingredients for the judges to see. Each team must prepare a 1 minute explanation of their treat for the judges. This time should be used to explain their creation to the judges and tell them why your creation deserves high marks!

Teams will be judged in 4 categories: Appearance, Creativity, Taste and Difficulty. Points will be awarded 1-5. The team with the highest number of points will win each division. Local celebrity judges will be brought in to administer points.

At 12:15 pm all participants should arrive at St. Francis of Assisi Church Activity Room and be ready to “sell” their creation to the judges.

After judging, awards, and prizes all are welcome to join us for swimming at Soldiers Field Pool until 3:00 pm. Drivers are needed to and from Soldiers Field. Please sign up on the permission form if you are able to help in this way. Students can be picked up from St. Francis of Assisi church at 3 pm unless other arrangements are made.

Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference 2009

This year’s Conference was another successful event! We combined all of the Rochester parishes for one Rochester group with about 30 high school students overall. There were incoming freshman all the way to incoming seniors from almost every Rochester parish, including others from Kasson and Wisconsin! The conference was held at the Mayo Civic Center and the overall conference had over 1,200 students participating.

Our weekend consisted of plenty of activities to keep students moving. There were large group sessions, small group sessions, praise and worship, Eucharistic Adoration, entertainment, prayer, plenty of food and more!

Time outside of sessions was spent talking, playing games, getting to know each other, and Ultimate Frisbee. Our group stayed overnight at Lourdes High School instead of hotels this year. Not only did this save on costs for the conference but also allowed for a lot more group bonding.

A big thank you goes out to all our chaperones who dedicated their entire weekend to be with our group including Jose Luis Hernandez, Terry Paz, Theresa Peters and Liz Morice. They did a wonderful job and we are so thankful for their presence!

Another HUGE thank you goes to Sandy Hocraffer who took care of logistics at Lourdes, organized our pre-conference meeting and handled all the registration for this event. Sandy worked countless hours to get everyone to the conference. Thank you, Sandy, for making this possible!

Youth Service Project and Water Wars

Friday, July 31st

2-6 pm

Join us for service and water fun! We’ll start off the day by helping clean up the church grounds. We’ll help with picking up trash, watering, weeding and maybe some planting! Then it’s time for fun…

You better like getting soaked! We’ll have water balloons, water challenges, and more. This will be a great way to cool off in the summer sun and help your parish at the same time!

Items to bring:
Work gloves
Work Clothes
Swimsuit (or clothes to get wet) and Towel
Snack to share (drinks will be provided)

Permission Sheets are available in the Parish Center Office or in the Gathering Space kisok. Please turn in all permission forms by Wednesday, July 29th.

Ronald McDonald House Dinner

Sunday, August 2nd
4:45-7:45 pm

Prepare and serve a meal for families at the Ronald McDonald House. Open to all youth grades 6-12. This opportunity would also count as a group service activity for Confirmation students. Space is limited—sign up today!


We will meet at St. Francis of Assisi Church at 4:45 pm to gather, go over guidelines and expectations, then to carpool to the Ronald McDonald House (850 2nd St. SW). One or two adult chaperones will be needed as well as the ability to drive. If other parents are available to drive, please let Carol know.

We will be serving approximately 40-50 people (including our group). The RM House will keep any leftovers for families who are unable to attend the meal at that time. We will serve the meal from 6:00-7:00 pm.

We are invited to share this meal and visit with the families at the RM House. After the meal we will package any leftovers and clean the kitchen/dining area. We should be done at about 7:30 pm. Parents can pick up their students from St. Francis of Assisi Church from 7:30-7:45 pm.

Our group will prepare a “potluck” style meal. Each participant will sign up to bring a food item to donate for the dinner. Please choose from an option below. Contact Carol as soon as possible so that your requested food item may be reserved for you. Remember, whatever food item you bring should be able to serve 40-50 people. Please have youth help with the preparation of the food, if possible.

Drink and plastic silverware
Salad
Salad
Hot Dish
Hot Dish
Dessert
Fruit
Veggies and dip
Bread

Please bring any containers and serving utensils you will need for your food item. Due to the nature of this activity, space is limited to 12 participants (including chaperones.) This is a great experience for youth and chaperones alike. Please contact Carol to reserve your spot and your food item.

Permission Forms due by Tuesday, July 28th. Forms available in the Parish Center Office or Church Gathering Space kiosk. Turn forms in to the Parish Center Office.

Movie Night

Monday, July 27th

6:00-8:30 pm

Parish Activity Room

(Located in the Parish Office Building, back door, downstairs)

Open to all students 6th grade and up! Join us for food, fun and friends! Bring a snack to share with the group. Popcorn and drinks will be provided. We'll eat, talk, play a game and watch a movie! This will be a fun, casual night. Great event for those who are new and those who are not-so-new to the youth group. Don't forget a blanket or something comfortable for watching the movie. Friends are welcome too!

What movie will we watch? You decide! Pick up a permission form to cast your vote. Permission forms due by Friday, July 24th. You have the choice of 3 movies...

Bedtime Stories (click for Bishops' Review)

Kung Fu Panda (click for Bishops' Review)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (click for Bishops' Review)

Which movie will win?

Get your friends together to cast your votes and join us!

Twins Game

Sunday August 30th, 2009

10:30 am to Late Afternoon

Cost $20

(includes ticket, transportation, hot dog and pop)

All 6th Grade youth and their families are invited!

Come see the Minnesota Twins play the Texas Rangers on Sunday, August 30th at the Metrodome. We’ll be seated in the Family Zone in the Upper Deck of the stadium (section 215, rows 4-6). All youth ministry families are invited to join us. The first 4 adult chaperones will attend for free. This is an open city-wide event hosted by Pax Christi. For more information contact Angie Slattery at Pax Christi at 282-8542 or angiemae107@charter.net.

Space is limited—reserve your seat today!

Print out permission forms at www.paxchristiyouth.org. All forms should be turned in at Pax Christi Parish Office (4135 18th Avenue NW).

School Supplies Drive/Competition

July 24th-August 2nd

Students should get involved to help their team win! All eligible students are entering grades 6-8 and 9-12.


The Youth Group will be hosting a school supplies drive starting July 24th for the Running Start for School Initiative. Supplies donated will help k-12 students in Olmsted County. High school and middle school students will compete to see who can bring in the most donations. We will celebrate with a party at the end of the drive and one lucky participant will win a free ticket to our Valley Fair trip on Aug. 24th! All parishioners are encouraged to donate. Choose a “team” (High School or Middle School) to award points to—or help both teams! Drop off items to the blue bins in the gathering space. See the Point System below. Get your items in right away. We will collect supplies from July 24th-August 2nd. Supplies can also be dropped off at the Parish Office Center anytime during the drive.

Point System

*Cash/check donations will be accepted. All donations should be dropped off at the Parish Center Office. Please make checks to Running Start for School Initiative. Be sure to designate which “team” you’d like your donation to be awarded to: High School or Middle School.

Pick up a flyer for more information from the Gathering Space or Parish Office!

Let's make this drive a success!

July Photo Safari: UPDATE

We had another successful photo safari on July 9th! The weather looked threatening but turned out to be just perfect!

Karen was close at hand to instruct us on what interesting things to look for. She challenged us to take different pictures than we would normally take.

Roscoe's was definitely worth the wait on our way back to church. Root Beer floats anyone?

Our next Photo Safari will be the Downtown "Nighttime" version. This will be a good challenge for anyone looking to learn more about how to take interesting photos. We also have talked about traveling to Oxbow for an Animal and Nature themed Safari...keep your eyes open!

Ask any of the participants...they had a blast! Join us next time!

Coming Soon...

Don't miss these events.
Mark your calendars today!



July 27
Movie Night: Food, Friends and a flick!


July 31
Service Splash: Spend a couple hours cleaning the church grounds. Afterwards we'll have have water wars to cool off and have fun!


August 2
Ronald McDonald House Dinner: A great service project for students grades 6-12 (An opportunity for Confirmation students to gain some service experience.) We'll provide and serve a meal for families at the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester.




August 5
Iron Chef Challenge: Are you up to the challenge? Join this extreme cooking contest and help St. Francis Church defend our title! Two dividsions: Middle School and High School. Each division winner walks away with the coveted "Golden Spatula". Will it be you?

TEC 2009

When and Where – 2009
• August 7-9, 2009 – TEC 53 – Rochester
• October, 2009-MEA – TEC 54 – Pipestone
• February 12-14, 2010 - Waseca

TEC begins on Friday or Saturday morning at 9:30
a.m. and ends Sunday or Monday evening at
6:00 p.m. * Handicap accessible.

What is TEC?
TEC is a three-day retreat weekend based on the Paschal Mystery: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. TEC originated as “Teens Encounter Christ” in 1965 as a retreat experience for high school students. Pathways TEC brings teens and adults together to be participants in encountering Christ as the family of God during the weekends. TEC is open to all youth ages 16 and older.


What Happens On the Weekend?
A TEC weekend works to build spiritual growth through participation in group activities. Although some time is given for individual prayer and reflection, the emphasis throughout the weekend is on group participation through music, discussions, talks, prayer, Scripture, liturgy and celebration.

Each day of the retreat has a central theme:

􀀽 “Die Day” is the first day- a day centered on
the death of Jesus Christ. On “Die Day”
participants reflect on many different
aspects of their lives, focusing on better
relationships with God, self and others.

􀀽 “Rise Day” is the second day, a joyous
celebration of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. On “Rise Day” participants celebrate
the presence of God’s love in their lives.

􀀽 “Go Day” is the third day- a day which
explores the continuous call to spread the
Good News. On “Go Day” participants
recognize and prepare to carry forth the
message of Jesus Christ.

Applications are available www.dow.org under Youth and Family, Pathways TEC or call Mary White at 507-280-0917 for more information about the TEC experience.

For more information or to sign up please visit the Diocese Website or grab an application brochure from the Gathering Space kiosk.