How to Make a Catholic Education Affordable

Living in the land of charter schools, our family was faced with many appealing and diverse options for a free education for our children.  Like providing food on the table and shelter for their bodies, Catholic schooling is not cheap.  Tuition, uniforms, school fees - it all adds up and it can be tough for many families. Contrary to the Myth Catholic schools did not surface to take care of the educational needs of the wealthy.  Socio-economic diversity abounds in many Catholic schools because assistance also abounds. Making Catholic education affordable is something that every diocese strives to do and there are plenty of state and local groups who are wiling to help make a Catholic education possible for every child.

State Level

Within Arizona, there exists a Catholic education organization which is a 501c3.  Formerly known as CTDOP it is now just called Catholic Education Arizona.  Couples and individuals can contribute to this organization as part of their tax credit.  The money will not go to a specific student, but rather to the school's tuition fund. Families looking for tuition assistance apply for need based awards through this organization each year.   For more information click here.  Applications open in February and you must submit a FAIR application.

Parish Level

Our parish offers a Parish Scholarship for families registered and active in either our parish or another local parish.  This covers roughly 20 - 30% (or more) of the price of tuition. Our parish also introduced the Stewardship Program some years ago. This program encourages families to increase their commitment to prayer life, service, and tithing. Families enter into a contract with the parish and receive all parish resources (including school tuition) as part of the commitment.  Stewardship families are given full tuition coverage as part of their Parish Scholarship.

Many Catholic schools also offer a tuition reduction for families with multiple kids enrolled.  Our Parish Scholarship offers more assistance for each child enrolled, thus providing a multi-child discount for active Catholic families.

School Level

Beyond the programs in writing, I know most parishes would work very hard to be able to provide a Catholic education for families that desire it. We have a Development Director at our school and she works with each family to find assistance to fit their needs.  Below is a list of national and local School Tuition Organizations (STO's) she provided me to supplement this post!  According to Kelly, STO's "offer parents the opportunity to apply for need based financial aid as well as offering a means for families to establish individual student accounts in which donors recommend that their tax credit go to a particular student". There are over 60 such organization just in Arizona.  Below is a sampling of those organization that are helping students at our school.

Private and Other Help 

AAA Scholarship foundation (click here).  Applications available beginning March 16th.
Arizona 4 Education Scholarship Foundation (click here).
Arizona Private Education Scholarship Fund (click here). Applications accepted starting April 11th.
Arizona Scholarship Fund (click here).
Arizona School Choice Trust (click here). 
Brophy Community Foundation (click here).
Institute for Better Education (click here). Applications accepted until March 18th.
Tuition Organization for Private Schools (click here). Applications available after May1st.
Arizona Leadership Foundation (click here). Applications available late March, early April and due by June 15th.
Arizona Empowerment Scholarship (click here). Application period is January 1- April 1st.

All application dates are for the year 2016

Having school choice has broadened the possibilities for many families.  Some choose to enroll their children at the neighborhood public school, others choose non-traditional public schools, and still others find that homeschooling is the best fit for their families or certain children within the family.  My background in child development and Education has taught me that there is no single 'best' fit for all kids - rather parents should look at the options and children and seek to find the best solution for each family member. I encourage Catholic parents to look at Parochial schools as an option.  It is one that can be affordable and it may just be an answer to your prayers.

Good Luck, God Bless, and thanks for stopping by!

Thanks to Kathryn at TeamWhitaker for linking up with me this Catholic Schools Week.  To read her 7 Reasons Why Catholic School Matters click here!

To read my favorite 5 reasons for sending my kids to a Catholic school click here...

Entering into Lent

My Advent was a total fail.

Seriously.

I think we lit the candles on the Advent Wreath most nights simply because my children have pyromaniatic tendencies, but other than that it was a mess.

I had my surgery (explained here) three days into Advent so I know I have an excuse.  I don't feel particularly guilty about how Advent went, but I am energized now to really embrace Lent. I don't think I have ever been excited about fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.  The post surgery recovery has been filled with 'rest time', eating, drinking sugary coffee drinks, eating more, and binge watching Netflix. I am ready to snap my physical and spiritual world back into shape, but I really don't want to go too crazy with my aspirations and lead with another seasonal fail.

My plan is pretty simple.

Prayer.  

In the morning before I brush my teeth. Even if it is a short and sweet prayer - just something.  I love my Blessed is She devotionals.  They come to my email like magic in the middle of the night so they are often the first thing I look at when I turn on my phone in the morning. They give me the days reading and a short reflection with some question or two to ponder through the day. I am really going to work to make this a serious habit and not just a usual thing. I am also going to the Beauty for Ashes Retreat (signup here!).  It will be wonderful!

Almsgiving.  

I need to do some more serious purging of my home.  Not just getting rid of clutter, but really determining what I do/do not need, and getting rid of nice things that I do not need.  I have a tendency to hold on to things because I like them and only getting rid of stuff that I don't like.  I am going to try to focus on giving away some good stuff that is just excess.

Fasting.  

In the past I have looked for loop holes - pregnant & nursing or illness - anything that would let me get out of fasting guilt free.  Is that horrible to admit? I really don't like fasting but oh my body needs it.  It is crazy to think that the church in all her wisdom knew of the importance for our bodies to spend some time being cleansed of the excesses of life!  So I am actually (gasp) looking forward to fasting on Fridays (and the obligatory Ash Wednesday & Good Friday too).  I am going to try to focus on more simple meals too this 40 days. A dear friend told me wisely that even Cambells Soup for dinner can be an expression of Love - it is better to do it simple & lovingly than extravagantly with tears.

Family Life.

As a family we need to find something charitable to do as well so I am looking into those local options.  We keep a kindness and sacrifice jar on the table during Lent as well and each child makes some personal commitments as to how they want to live their time during Lent.  "Not Yelling" is typically something that makes everyones list.  We trace our hands and then write our commitments on those hands.  They all go up on a paper cross I put up in our hallway.  We then have a visual reminder all 40 days that we are each striving to live out certain commitments. Keeping the focus for the whole 40 days is hard for adults and kids too.  I have some other ideas on what to do in my post from last year (read here).

This year in addition to the handprints and jar,we are going to have a little pre-Lent family talk about virtue and sin.  I was listening to a conversation this week on Catholic Radio's Fighting the Good Fight with Barbara McGuigan.  Her guest (whose name eludes me & I couldn't trace) was discussing the relationship between sin and virtue and brining forth the ideas of St Thomas Aquinas among others.  I loved the way he presented the virtues as a way of battling sin.  He discussed our tendency towards certain evils (maybe pride or anger) and the complement virtue that we can strive for to combat the specific sin.  St. Thomas Aquinas points out that our sins are often hidden from us and therefore made difficult for us to eradicate.  Striving for a virtuous life, rather than focusing on rooting out sin, can therefore act a as a backdoor to combat those specific tendencies we want to reduce or eliminate.

Cousins War Series

I have fallen in love with the Cousins War Series by Philippa Gregory.

This series has six books that cover the War of the Roses in England, from the perspective of six different women involved over a period of about 75 years. You see three different generations of women coming of age in various stations of life, but all circled around the great throne of England. The War of the Roses was a 30 year civil war of sorts between the Lancaster and the Yorks - two houses that descended from Edward III.   Both the York and the Lancaster families felt truly that they had a right to the throne, and the Tutor family felt their claim was divine.

Philippa Gregory is a decent writer and an actual historian.  She has taken her background in history and spun some fabulous tales about what could have happened given what we actually know.  She refers to real places and times and battles and characters, but fills in the details with fiction making it a fabulous read without being pure brain candy.

Unlike The White Queen TV series, on which is based on the books, the novels are not overly sexual but they are romantic in nature. There is love, there is lust, there is heart break and deception, but it isn't dirty and over-the-topic graphic. The TV show is very sexually graphic so be forewarned!

I love the interplay between the books as they refer to many of the same events, but from a completely different perspective. A character that is minor or even incidental in one book may be main character in another book. Information and situations that are hinted at in one book are given full attention in another. Reading the books from the perspective of various characters one can see how really difficult this time was for the whole of England. I recommend reading them in order published as listed below. You can click on the titles directly and it will take you to Amazon.

The Lady of the Rivers (2011)

The Red Queen (2012)

The White Queen (2013)

The White Princess (2014)

The King's Curse (2015)

Maybe it is because I was just in England, maybe it is because I am a romantic at heart, maybe it is because I love reading a good story and learning about real stuff at the same time... for whatever reason I have really enjoyed these books and I hope you will too!

Happy reading and thanks for stopping by!

Villainous Vegas Vacation

I recently spent a long weekend in Las Vegas, on The Strip, with my 12 year-old son.  This was not my first (or second or third) choice of venue, but we were traveling with his team for a soccer tournament.  After Facebooking (can I make that a verb?) my awesome Blessed is She sisters in the Southwest Region, I had enough tips for the trip to feel adequately equipped to deal with our trip to Sin City.  Las Vegas is a beautiful place surrounded by snow tipped mountains and blue sky.  The Strip was less beautiful and provided the backdrop for a lesson on the various dangers of gambling, lust, greed, gluttony and general hedonism. Places like Las Vegas prey on the weak.  They provide the invitation to sin, not just normalizing but encouraging immoral behavior.  Think of their slogan “What happens in Vegas stay is Vegas” - it is a statement of permission that normal rules (and morality) should be suspended. Although surroundings can encourage and facilitate sinful behavior, the evil driving our own sin comes from within each of us. 

In the book of Mark (7:23), Jesus instructs us that evil comes from within, not from outside.  

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.

From within the man, from his heart,

come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,

adultery, greed, malice, deceit,

licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Places and situations are not responsible for our sins – WE are. WE make the choices to engage in the sinful behavior that is harmful to our souls.  If we can accept that we are personally responsible for the choices we make, and that the evil comes from within, not outside, then we are intellectually and emotionally better equip for battling that evil. 

Surrounding ourselves with people and situations that will help us in our battles against sin is helpful and prudent, but it is not the only way to deal with the evil within.

The Real Story: Hysterectomy

Photo Credit: Matthew Wiebe

I woke up writing this post in my head which is a pretty good indication that I am officially on the mend. I am starting this post 1-week post surgery but finishing it over the course of the whole month. In some ways the recovery has been textbook, but in other ways it rocked me. There are a few different ways to have a hysterectomy, and different things to take out (depending on the reason for the hysterectomy), so I can only speak to mine. Given the fact that there are about 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year and it is the second most common surgery for reproductive aged women, I figured it would be good for me to share a bit of my experience.  Besides, I am a blogger and that is just what we do!   Warning though - there may be parts of this post that would qualify as TMI.

Well, let's get on with it then...