Hello,

I’m the head catechists for 6th grade religious education this year. Thank you for your trust in me and the rest of the catechist team for your children’s religious education. I’d like to give you an idea of what we hope to accomplish with your child this year.

First, a bit about me. I grew up and learned the faith in Illinois, but now am a professor of physics and astronomy at WSU. I’ve been living in Pullman for 11 years; this city and parish are where my daughters (ages 11 and 7) have grown up.

Sixth grade is the final formal year of formal religious education, so we feel a great responsibility to prepare students for the lifelong task of deepening their faith under their own direction. We are guided by three particular goals. First, we wish all students to gain familiarity with Sacred Scripture, both in the basic sense of being able to find one’s way around the Bible and locate verses, and in the broader sense of appreciating overall structure and themes. Second, we want to expose students to the lives of the saints through all the ages of the Church, both as models of holiness for men and women, and to guide an introduction to the history of the Catholic Church. Third, we will explore core doctrines, such as the nature of God, the Incarnation, and the sacraments. Our students are maturing intellectually, so this will be a process of active questioning and discussion as much as listening.

The typical class will be designed to address these three goals. After an opening prayer, we will read and discuss a Bible passage relevant to the topic of the day. Then we will present a saint’s life. Next the main topic is introduced, followed by a discussion, often framed around a question. We always wrap up with an ending prayer which includes an invocation of the saint of the week.

We realize that students are very busy with schoolwork and will not be assigning homework.

We welcome your questions and concerns.



Matt Duez
Spring 2022