On a recent Sunday, seventh-grader Melanie Campos and other members of her religious education class at St. Leonard’s Parish in Berwyn were using scissors, pictures and markers on poster board to create accurate depictions of the lives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They would share these with their parents at the end of the school year. While the students were working in classrooms upstairs, the parents were in the basement of the school learning about Pope Francis and watching clips from the Catholicism Project, a video series created by Father Robert Barron and Word on Fire ministries. This dual approach to religious education has drawn in schoolage children and their parents one Sunday a month during the school year to deepen their faith together. More than 50 families participate in the program for first- through seventh- graders and their parents. While the children meet with others in their same grade, parents divide up into English and Spanish-speaking groups to learn during the same 90-minute session. In her research that day, Campos learned that Mark was a traveler and that he preached about patience. “This class really helps me get creative,” said Campos. Her father, Steven Olavarria, is just as excited as his daughter when it comes to sharing his faith. Olavarria said he has learned more about his faith being involved in St. Leonard’s program and that it has helped him explain projects with his children. Along with his daughter, Olavarria has also met friends through the program. “Coming here is more like being a family,” he said after a gathering one Sunday. Kathy Daquioag said she appreciates the program because it gives her an opportunity to learn how to raise her 7-year-old son Kyle as a Catholic. “You learn new things every time you participate,” Daquioag said. One thing she incorporated into her family’s home and routine was creating a prayer space. “We have a designated spot in the house in the front area near a big window,” Daquioag said. “It is our special new place.” The small touches at home and some of the dinnertime conversations families are having about God are generating excitement among the families. “There is more enthusiasm,” said Katie Ainge McKeon, director of family and youth ministry in the parish. “Before it seemed like babysitting but now parents are involved. The kids are engaged.” This program began in the parish three years ago as a way to engage parents in faith formation. It gave parishioners an opportunity to learn alongside their children and incorporate monthly family activities. McKeon has noticed that students are showing up with completed homework assignments and teachers are able to get through the material much quicker than before the parents were added to the program. The material is broken into five sections covering God, Jesus’ works, sacraments, church and community, morality and faith-in-action. The classes and lessons are age-appropriate and include family discussion questions. For example during the Easter season, which falls in the faith in action section, there are activities geared toward discussing living out the Easter season. First-grade questions are geared toward animals and nature and caring for creation. Fourth-graders are given questions that ask how people can care about their neighbors and show kindness to those around them. There are also optional arts and crafts that families can do together and a prayer given in a take-home packet that they can also recite together. Gail Sulla has been teaching in the program for four years and said it’s a natural fit since parents are the first teachers for the children, often helping them learn their first prayers at an early age. “Parents need to be part of their kids religion,” said Sulla.