Parish Religious Education Program
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14)
Our Program
The focus and commitment of PREP is to impart, in collaboration with all our parents, the Catholic faith to our young people, from kindergarten through Confirmation.
Our program prepares children cognitively, spiritually and experientially throughout grade school and middle school, and includes sacramental preparation for Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation.
Our children, coming primarily from non-parochial schools, benefit from weekly catechesis. Our children live their faith meaningfully and joyfully by participating in social service and a communal life and ministries here at St. Ignatius!
PREP Information is available by email or hard copy by contacting Chris McCullough.
Contact
For questions or volunteer opportunities, please contact Chris McCullough or phone the parish office at 410-727-3848.
Chris McCullough
Ministry Coordinator
chrismccullough@st-ignatius.net
410-727-3848
Registration for existing PREP families with no additional children entering PREP:
- Do not complete the registration form online. Registration is through payment.
- Make your payment to PREP via FaithDirect or Venmo (*@Saint-IgnatiusBaltimore). Choose the “Contribute” button to proceed for payment.
- Email chrismccullough@st-ignatius.net, with an image of your payment.
- Your email should include your child’s name and grade change or school change if any.
- If you cannot pay online, send a check to our office, attn: Chris McCullough, written out to St. Ignatius. Keep a record.
Registration for New PREP families or siblings coming into PREP:
- Complete the PREP registration form online to include all children that will be in PREP.
- Make your payment to PREP via FaithDirect or Venmo (*@SaintIgnatius-Baltimore). Choose the “Contribute” button to proceed for payment.
- Email chrismccullough@st-ignatius.net, with and image of your payment.
- Your email should include a scanned copy of your child’s baptismal certificate, if your child was not baptized at St. Ignatius.
- If you cannot pay online, send a check to our office, attn: Chris McCullough, written out to St. Ignatius. Keep a record.
April – May Registration
Families helping families on behalf of our faith
Make a Faith Direct Payment
Register for PREP
PREP Staff & Curriculum
Catechesis is led by our gracious volunteer teachers, parents and parishioners from many walks of life. Teachers lead lessons based on the Gospel and Archdiocesan catechesis materials, and use their personal creativity and spirituality to enhance lessons! They are trained in child-safety, through the Archdiocese.
Pflaum Gospel Weeklies
These are an additional educational supplement. Pamphlets are received in bundles covering a few months. The editions begin Sunday, September 20th. Parents are asked to visit the website weekly for the gospel and materials. Go to Parents, to Readings for Mass, then choose the Sunday that corresponds. There you will see a child’s version of the gospel.
Loyola Press, a Jesuit Ministry
“Finding God” by Loyola Press, is our classroom textbook for PREP. It provides an interactive, experiential, Ignatian framework for our learning. There are wonderful on-line resources that come with it, to accompany the text for both teachers use in the classroom and parents use at home. They are delineated by grade and contain games and interactive reviews for each chapter.
Growing with God
This year Growing with God replaced our former Benziger Family Life series. This is distributed for home instruction, and includes information on family relationships, communication, and safety, which is part of the Archdiocese Safe Environment and Child Abuse and Prevention Education. Families are expected to implement this curriculum, unless they complete an ‘Opt Out’ form through the coordinator.
PREP Leaders
K-1st Grade
Jessica Mirano
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Monitoring Officer
2nd Grade
Ted Engelke
Diageo North America Regional Director
Katherine Engelke
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Physical Therapist
3rd Grade
Kelly Powers
Howard County Public Schools, Grant Manager
Maureen Ord
4th-5th Grade
Liz Stephens-Kalmar
Washington Hospital Ctr., Certified Nurse Midwife
John Springer
PNC Bank, Business
Banker
6th-7th Grade
Manon McGuigan
Freelance French & Arabic Analyst
Confirmation
Amy Petkovsek
Child Advocacy Lawyer, Director of Advocacy
Child and Youth Protection Policy
All volunteers 14 and over having regular contact with children must complete online training to called “Virtus” to ensure the safety of our children. Teachers and volunteers must contact Barbara Dailey to initiate training. Contact her @ barbaradailey@st-ignatius.net. A copy of the training certificate must be given to the coordinator, Chris McCullough, before service begins in September. Thank you.
