Stewardship Profile:
Jim and Terry Fogerty
This Fall Jim and Terry Fogerty will have two children in Middletown High School - Cailin in 10th grade, Patrick in 9th - plus a few dozen others in several schools over the US.
The few dozen are not actually theirs, but children the Fogertys have met and worked with in Religious Ed classes at St. Lucy and elsewhere. Current and former students sometimes recognize them and speak to them at Sunday Mass.
Jim
and Terry are 43 and 40. They describe themselves as family oriented. Earlier it
was religious education for young students, when their own children reached
school age. Then at St. Lucy they served on the core team in starting the Family
Time program.
Currently they teach the two-year Confirmation class for 9th and 10th graders, including their own daughter. "We’re all on a journey together," says Terry. "And there’s a lot of give and take." "It’s more discussing rather than teaching," says Jim. They feel a lot of the issues their students are interested in are things everyone is interested in.
Neither was educated as a teacher. Jim got an engineering degree from the US Naval Academy after 12 years in public schools. Terry had 12 years of Catholic education and got a business degree from College of Charleston after beginning at Penn State.
How did they become involved in teaching? From being parents, they both agree. "All parents are teachers," says Terry. "Plus we’ve had a lot of support. Marie [Lachapelle] and Sister Sunti have been fantastic. And the materials we’re given are great." Part of a national program, the materials suggest a different topic for every week. And the kids bring many of their own issues. "Sometimes we have to reach for the reference material," Terry said. "And the kids respect that."
Does today’s Internet generation know less than when Jim and Terry were teenagers? "They know fewer answers from the Baltimore Catechism," says Terry, "and they don’t have as great a knowledge of the faith. But they have greater spirituality, a greater wish to find things out."
What is their advice for anyone wishing to be involved? "If it’s important to them," says Jim, "they should go for it." "Come to the fair," says Terry, "or call the rectory." (The Stewardship Fair was held on September 17 and 18. But a List of Ministries on this web site offers information on all ministries.)
Story and Photo by Ed Weyhing