Introducing the ‘Faith Fair’ to BHNCDSB elementary schools – YEAR 3 With thanks to Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board for sharing the Faith Fair concept and resource. Additional thanks to the BHN Faith Fair writing team.

What is a Faith Fair? What is the Purpose? A faith fair is an exposition of student work based on research of a religious topic. The purposes of a faith fair are: to celebrate and promote fervour for our Catholic education to encourage and promote increased knowledge of the doctrinal content of the Religion Curriculum Document to unite students with their teachers and their parents as they study topics related to their faith; and, to promote ecumenism and vocations.

Faith Fair Participation We had 8 schools participate in the faith fair during the pilot year. During the second year ( ) we had 15 schools participate. In we welcome all of our elementary schools to this wonderful fair. Participant feedback was very positive, the project embraces the curriculum and truly celebrates our Catholic Faith in our schools.

Faith Fair Survey Feedback: “My class and I had a great experience with the Faith fair. They were very excited that they got to show off their faith work. They realize that faith is a major part of their school years. Parents, I think, were amazed that their children knew so much about their topic.” “Showcases what we do and who we are as a Catholic School. Ensures a true focus on our Faith, sometimes we need a bit of a reminder.” “I would like to see it continue each year, as we are a Catholic system and our signs and work of our faith should be present/displayed throughout the year.” Following are pictures from Faith Fair

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – Saint Models and Research Teacher Comment: “Wonderful opportunity to showcase the work done by the students. Faith comes alive in our buildings. Students were very proud to display their work.”

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – The Apostles Creed by Grade 3’s This school celebrated the Faith Fair by displaying all the student work in the gym and inviting the community in to visit the display.

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – Grade 2 Student Written Prayers

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – Grade 2’s make a class project to showcase their knowledge and understanding of God. Teacher Comment: “It makes our Catholic faith visible. It allowed the students to think reflectively about their First Communion experience.”

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – Grade One students reflect on God’s love In this class the teacher recorded each student answering the question ‘What is love?’ and ‘How do I know that God loves me?’. When parents came into the classroom the audio feed was on a loop so they could hear all students speaking about love in addition to seeing the bulletin board and the worksheet on the student desks.

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – Display Boards of Faith Teacher Comment: “Students took pride in their faith and their work. They were able to answer questions based on Faith about their project. They were excited about their faith.”

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – The Prodigal Son depicted through modelling clay

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS – The Apostles Creed (Grade 8) - The Stations of the Cross (Grade 6)

STUDENT FAITH FAIR PROJECTS Teacher Comment: “I liked that there was a focus on faith as it seems to always get pushed aside... There were so many great projects done for the faith fair that our community got to experience during education week and many things are still on display since then.”

The Faith Fair & the Board Strategic Plan The Faith Fair is a part of our Board’s Strategic Plan for The roll out is as follows: – pilot year, volunteer administrators will host the faith fair at their school. DONE! , a minimum 50% of schools will participate , all elementary schools will be expected to participate.

Who can participate in a Faith Fair? Elementary students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade Eight are eligible to participate in the Faith Fair. Student presentations will be based on the research of prescribed, grade-appropriate religious topics selected from the Religion Curriculum.

What type of work do the students display in a Faith Fair? Please visit: for a comprehensive grade by grade suggested lesson guide made by BHNCDSB teachers.

When do we showcase the Faith Fair in our schools? The celebration and display of the Faith Fair is intended for Catholic Education week. This provides a wonderful opportunity to display our religion programs to our communities on a yearly basis.

But our teachers don’t have time for ‘more’ in their daily schedules… The Faith Fair truly is NOT a ‘more.’ It is completely linked to the curriculum/program that teachers currently teach. In addition, it is not necessary for Faith Fair projects to be completed in April or May. They can be done at any point prior to Education Week and stored in the classroom or digitally filed for Catholic Education Week.

Why is the Faith Fair so important? The showcase of our Catholic Curriculum will provide our staff, students, communities and parishes with a strong visual reminder of who we are as a Catholic school and board. The Faith Fair provides an opportunity to strengthen ties between our schools and our parishes (e.g. school mass with faith fair)