Rockhurst Education Students, Local Catholic Schools Celebrate Season of Creation

The Season of Creation is a monthlong, ecumenical celebration of God's creation.

Running from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, the season encourages those of all faiths to "care for our common home" through prayer, education and action, ending on the Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.
Inspired by the occasion, Rockhurst University's School of Education and the Office of Service and Action recently collaborated on an interactive activity to educate third-grade students from two area Catholic schools on the reason for this season - St. Elizabeth's and Visitation.

"We do an Earth Day activity in the spring, and for that we partnered with Border Star Montessori. But Season of Creation is a faith-based celebration, so for this one, partnership with our nearby Catholic schools made sense," said Bill Kriege, director of service and action.

Students pursuing undergraduate elementary education degrees in the technology in the classroom course taught by Sara Hicks, Ph.D., professor of education, were asked to design an interactive lesson around the themes for the Season of Creation. Once they familiarized themselves with the lesson and the tech, they went for a short hike around Rockhurst's tree-lined campus, looking for things to include in a tech-assisted reflection - a presentation, video or collage - that they could take back to their schools to share with others. It was a way to not only teach the younger students about the Season of Creation and the Catholic approach to living in harmony with the environment, Hicks said, but a chance for the future teachers at Rockhurst University to practice their skills.

"Importantly, they got to do it a second time, so on Monday night after they taught, I gave them reflection prompts that we often use with best teaching, thinking about how did the lesson go? How do you know? What would you do differently?" Hicks said.
Senior Carly Rolf took the opportunity to refine a scavenger hunt where students had to find things on campus and take photos.

"On Monday I had someone who wasn't as engaged, and I thought if he had specific things to look for, he might have been," she said. "So I added that."

Rolf said the experience not only provided valuable practice with learning objectives and designing lessons using technology - it reminded her again why she's in her field.

"This is my second time with the school and both experiences have been really awesome. Every time I get to be in the classroom, it's just very fun and makes me realize why I want to be a teacher," she said.