The beginning of a school year always brings some change, but, for years, the BCCHS Religion department has remained mostly the same. The strong foundation of the Religion department had long withstood the tests of time, but this year brought several radical changes. As Central began preparing for its Western Catholic Educational Association (WCEA) accreditation, Billings Catholic Schools president Andrew McDonald and former Billings Central principal Shel Hansel realized that the curriculum was outdated compared to other Catholic schools in the region. Accordingly, in the summer before the 2022-23 school year, they commissioned school chaplain and religion teacher Fr. John Pankratz and current principal Nolan Trafton to find a new curriculum.
The curriculum they chose is based on the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) framework. The former “religion” courses are now “theology” courses, and focus on forming students’ understanding of the Church and strengthening them in their faith. Freshmen will receive a basic overview of the faith and person of Jesus Christ, sophomores will be taught about the Paschal Mystery, and juniors will learn about the sacraments and their origins. Finally, Seniors will be taught about vocations and living their lives in a Christ-like manner.
The new curriculum has been affecting teachers in different ways. For some, like Fr. Pankratz, the adjustment was easy. “Since I’ve studied the faith and studied theology at a relatively high level, for me, it’s more of a matter of organizing my thoughts and organizing what I want to give the students,” he explained.
However, sophomore and junior teacher Karla Kelly has had a harder time. She said, “Change for me isn’t always the easiest thing. However, as I’ve been delving deeper into the textbooks that we are using; its dawning on me that this is truly theology. And, hopefully, it will have a deeper meaning to my students spiritually and in their faith journey.”
