CEDAR LAKE – Most days of the week, these young people are at home studying, watching instructional lessons on video and completing school assignments, but on alternate Tuesday afternoons, they head to Sacred Heart Hall at Holy Name of Jesus with their moms for Sacred Heart Family Fellowship.
Crafts, games, music and socializing are on the agenda for these homeschooled youngsters who gather from throughout south Lake County, and the smiles on their faces reveal how happy they are to be together. Each session includes the opportunity to begin the day in the church for a weekly Rosary recitation at 11:30 a.m. and a noon Mass.
“It's a break from school, and I like going to Mass and seeing my friends afterward,” said Clara Linas, 13, who arrives for the biweekly sessions at her home parish from her Cedar Lake home with two siblings and her mother, Rosemary Linas.
“I get to hang out with everyone and I get to say the Rosary,” added Hope Murphy, 9, a Crown Point resident and Our Lady of Consolation parishioner who has six siblings, five adults and a sister who attends SHFF with their mother, Jennifer Murphy.
“Our homeschool co-op invited us to join, and I like meeting at a Catholic church and having fellowship,” said Jennifer Murphy of her experience with the ministry that started about three months ago. A former preschool teacher, she started homeschooling her family “to have them become strong in their faith” after finding that parochial schools were “not financially feasible. I like the flexibility of homeschooling, too. I incorporate a lot of educational videos in our lessons and we can focus on one subject or topic longer if needed.”
SHFF was the brainchild of Zara Fagen, a mom of four whose Lowell family belongs to Holy Name of Jesus. She took the idea to Cindy Varenkamp, parish mission facilitator, and with Father Patrick Gawrylewski, O.F.M., parish administrator, the trio worked out the logistics of the ministry.
“It’s an outreach open to any family, but at this point it serves homeschooled families because of the time frame (12:30-2:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month),” said Father Gawrylewski. “The hope is that in the summer when other families are not in school more can gather to pray together and have fun. It is really up to the Holy Spirit as to where it goes.”
“There are other, more structured groups (for homeschoolers), but I wanted something more focused on fellowship,” explained Fagen, “with child-centered activities to enable the kids to develop friendships while the parents also do fellowship, exchanging notes, encouraging each other and saying funny things.”
There are also play groups in Northwest Indiana geared to younger homeschooled children, but “those of us with a little older children wanted to start a group,” she said.
While SCFF is focused on ages 10-18, all ages are welcome and have blended well.
“The ages don’t matter, they all play together like a big family,” added Lisa Simantirakis, a St. John mom and St. John the Evangelist parishioner with seven children. A former first-grade teacher, she began homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our older kids attended SJE school and Lake Central High School, but our younger children all learn from each other now,” she said. “My 15-year-old, Nick, has Down syndrome and in school he was so quiet, kept his head down and didn’t talk very much. These kids (at SHFF) engage with him, know his interests and understand him.”
Matt Fagen, 17, is one of the older teens, and moves easily around the hall, playing piano for the girls crafting keychains and the younger boys playing a game on the floor. A day earlier, the tech savvy teen was with Varenkamp shooting drone footage of the parish campus for a video as part of the parish’s Social Media Ministry.
“We do a lot of outside activities, sports at the (Dean and Barbara White Southlake) YMCA in Crown Point, classes here and there,” said Linas, “but this is more flexible and you come when you can.”
Families bring their own snacks, sometimes to share, and also share craft materials.
Parents, which so far includes only moms, share curriculum texts and instructional materials. “A dad would be welcome, but we just haven’t had any yet,” said Fagen.
“Awesome,” is the word Varenkamp used to describe SHFF. “Not only is this program part of our parish Evangelism Commission, but part of our attempt to broaden our offerings for youth,” she said.
“I have this ideal of our families growing up together,” Fagen said. “By creating a homeschooled community, I’ve created kids who I want to spend all day with. They are used to talking to adults and are not at all unsocial.”
Caption: Collaborating on a craft project at the Sacred Heart Family Fellowship session on May 13 at Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake are (from left) Mary Herbert, 7, and Clare Herbert, 12, siblings from Schererville, and Charlotte Maruszczak, 11, from St. John. “I like being able to spend time with my friends and doing crafts,” said Maruszczak of the Tuesday afternoon program held twice a month. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
