St. Jude Faith Formation Safety Program Information 2016-2017
The Archdiocese of Boston requires a safe environment program (grades 1- 8) to be part of all parish schools and religious education programs in our diocese. Barbara Brunelli, M.Ed., will once again teach this program at both St. Edward and St. Jude.
Ms. Brunelli is a Human Services trainer with over 25 years of experience in the field of child abuse and neglect and has developed a program called Putting Children First. Her program is being used in nine churches in our area and the feedback has been very positive! You are invited to visit her website at PuttingChildren First.us to read the testimonials and for additional references.
Putting Children First is a safety program designed to educate and raise awareness in a nonthreatening, faith based manner. The goal of the program is to lay a foundation for children to begin to understand their relationship with God outside of the Mass and religious education classes. Children hear what a wonderful gift they are from God and the things God wants them to do to take care of themselves. Children are empowered to trust their feelings and learn ways to speak up when they are scared or confused. Videos, games, stories, and role playing are just some of the methods used to help the children to practice what they learn. Lessons are age appropriate for each grade level and parents are encouraged to send their children every year so that the important child protection message can be reinforced.
There is a separate schedule for these classes and they may not fall on the regular day and time that your child is scheduled for religious education classes. So please, visit the parish website for the complete Safety Program Schedule and mark your calendars now! Participation in this program is not mandatory, however attendance is highly encouraged.
If you decide to opt out of this program, we ask that you sign the form on the back of this page and return it to the religious education office as soon as possible. Thank you.