Leah Coming: Connecting Faith, Language, and the Life of Óscar Romero

We used the Personal Creed lesson in the second week of school as a part of a unit about Archbishop Oscar Romero. Seventh and Eighth grade students at our Catholic school were familiar with the Apostles’ Creed, having professed it at Mass, although they may not have known what each word meant. We used the poem as an opportunity to dig into unknown language using context clues and the dictionary.

The lesson set the tone for the year. The students got the message that the class would map onto previously known concepts (the Apostles’ Creed, their professions of belief as received through their families or the school), but that this would not keep them in safe or familiar territory. Rather, the poem invited them to see their faith and education as something which would draw them out into the experience (even the devastatingly painful experience) of others. —Leah Coming, middle school language arts teacher, South Bend, Indiana