Literature for Life

By Kristine Englert
October 13, 2009

Christmastime is an especially joyous time to work with youth and others as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ. Here at our own school, St. Theresa, we are busy practicing for our annual “Evening With St. Nick” program. The festivities will include each grade, Pre—K through 8, performing a brief Christmas hymn or song. Somehow, the bigger kids wrangle the little kids into angel wings and halos, sheets made into shepherd’s robes and a miniature Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus make an appearance. My own class, the 8th grade, teams with the Kindergartners, and we usually end up banging on rhythm sticks to “The Little Drummer Boy”. In the classroom, we look to our text, scripture and own traditions to reacquaint ourselves with the story of the Nativity. As we collect items for our service organization, Birthright, we remind ourselves that this is the season of giving.

Our 7th and 8th graders are also writing a pro-life essay on the topic of stem-cell research for the National Right to Life Pro-Life Essay Contest.  The essays are to be submitted between December 15, 2007 and January 20, 2008.  With today’s society accepting and utilizing technology at warp-speed, it’s important for Catholic youth to not only be able to say Catholic’s are “for” or “against” an issue, but to be able to explain why we believe as we do. “Because the Pope says so” may be an expedient answer, but it leaves out the main component needed for a person to internalize and adopt the Church’s perspective as their own: understanding. The topics suggested by the organization are abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or stem cell research. A couple of years ago, my own son read an excellent fictionalized story of what might occur if cloning became legal, but then gets overturned and is illegal. It is written from the perspective of a male clone. Readers meet him when he is 6 years old and has no understanding of his purpose in the world. We follow him through 6 years of his life as he slowly learns of the horrific plans that his “benevolent” 143-year-old twin/clone has for him. There is a very touching spiritual aspect to this story. Even though the clone has never been allowed to attend Church, his Hispanic surrogate mother-caregiver has taught him to turn to “the Virgin” to watch over him and this gift of faith provides him comfort in dire times of need.  The book is The House of the Scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer. As I prepared a lesson plan to include some pre-writing research and exercises with the 7th and 8th graders before assigning the essay, I decided to incorporate reading the novel as a group into the plan.  Some may say legalized cloning is far-fetched, but there are many right to life issues that have come and gone in my own lifetime that I would not have believed could have occurred. The list includes the birth of the first test-tube baby a couple of decades ago and the current issues surrounding in-vitro fertilization and the ethical use of unwanted frozen embryos. 

As Catholic educators, we are compelled to share our faith in the Church’s constant stance as the beacon of light that shines on the truth as it relates to life.  Unmonitored and unregulated stem-cell research could serve as a gateway into further manipulation of life. The perspective the novel offers is way to reach the students that also touches their hearts. Paring a fictionalized story along with the facts of the Church’s position on right-to-life issues and Catholic Social Teaching has provided an excellent environment for critical thinking and discussion. If you would like further information about the National Right to Life Pro-life Essay Contest, you may contact Michelle Fischbach at michellelfischbach@yahoo.com or (320) 243-7052.  May you all have a happy, safe and blessed Christmas!

Kristi Englert teaches middle school Language Arts and Religion at St. Theresa School in Little Rock, AR. She is originally from Shawnee Mission, KS, was transplanted to Northwest Arkansas and later on to Central Arkansas. She received her undergraduate degree from Emporia State University and holds an M.Ed from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She attends annual religious education certification courses to stay current to teach Religion. She has been married to husband Mike for over 20 years and they have three boys. Teaching is a second career for Kristi; her work experience prior to teaching was community and public relations. She obtained her teaching certification about 6 years ago and has never regretted the decision. The only job interview she went on was for the position she holds at St. Theresa. Her confirmation name is "Theresa" and her family includes several generations of women confirmed as "Theresa," so she feels she was called to the ministry of teaching at St. Theresa School.

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