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Totus Tuus teachers ready for summer of teaching, discipleship

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
(Email Kara)

With only about a month left to go before Totus Tuus hits the diocese for its third full summer, the applications are in and the teachers are chosen.

The application process is very in-depth, said Mark Thomason, director of the program for the diocese. There are about four pages of application, with four to five essays that each applicant must complete.

“It’s pretty neat because people really share themselves with us and that begins this process of discipleship and mentoring that we have with our teachers,” he said.

Thomason said he looks for good, thoughtful answers, not just ones applicants think he wants to hear. One of the essay questions is “Tell us about your faith journey so far.”

“We want to know about their faith journey because I can teach them how to teach, we can teach them how to do games and to have fun and skits, but we can’t give them the faith,” he said. “We’re looking for teachers who love Jesus Christ.”

The goal is to set up disciples of Jesus Christ through Mary, he said.

Team expansion
This year there will be three teams of four, two girls and two boys on each. Out of the six boys on the teams, five of them are seminarians. The last boy is still to be determined. Training begins May 22.

Thomason said he tries to find both local kids from Iowa, as well as from other parts of the country. He also makes a point to find at least one returning teacher for each team and tries to get a diverse representation of colleges for the youth to learn about.

Benefits
One of the perks of Totus Tuus is that it naturally promotes vocations, not only to the youth, but to the teachers too, he said. Beyond the presence of seminarians on the teams, for the last two years a girl teacher has gone on to enter religious life.

A big strength of the program, Thomason said, is its consistency in parishes and places. Teachers come from the youth they’re teaching. For example, he said, one of the teachers this year was a participant in the program last year.

“If you do it in the same place every year for 10 years, a) the kids will have a really strong faith because they’ll learn the rosary over and over again and b) it feeds the program when we have alumnus from the program teaching the kids,” he said.

It becomes teaching not just something they’ve learned, but something they’ve lived, Thomason added.

“What we want are people who love Jesus and his church and his mother,” he said.

Thomason said he never chooses the teams before training. He wants to see the teachers interact with one another, and most importantly, he said, have the chance to pray with them.

There is also a balance of team dynamics he needs to figure out, with who can handle younger kids, older kids, jumping around, seriousness and smarts.

While many of the teachers this year are studying theology, catechetics or philosophy in college, Thomason said teachers can come from a variety of studies.

Summer of prayer
A summer of Totus Tuus can be life transforming for the teachers. They generally become more committed Catholics, Thomason said, due to their rigorous prayer life.

“They learn the benefits of daily prayer,” he said “Our teachers are pray-ers.”

Laura Downey knows the summer will stretch her as a teacher and she is excited for that challenge. Originally from a suburb of Des Moines and a sophomore at Benedictine College in Kansas, Downey said she first learned about the program from friends at school who were teachers in various dioceses around the country last summer.

“From what I've heard, God is doing amazing things in his church through this program, especially in the way of effectively and joyfully teaching the truth to children and youth,” she said, adding that it’s a necessary ministry she wants to be a part of. “I also believe that participating in this ministry will not only form within me a better ability to teach the faith, but will also form me as a Catholic Christian, increasing my own faith, my ability to love as Christ loves and my desire to bring souls to him.”

Aaron Pohlen, a seminarian for the Diocese of Sioux City from Hospers, said Totus Tuus will give him the opportunity for public ministry and also allow him to get a small feel for the priesthood by working in a parish and by getting to know different families.

Pohlen said he believes teaching the Catholic faith is one of the best ways a person can come to know the faith, especially when teaching it at multiple levels, including the most basic level.

“I'm very excited to work with, and teach the youth who are like bowls that are waiting to be filled, ready and willing to learn faith and know more about God and how to get closer to him,” he said.