1. Ritual Tradition

2. What are some rituals we have already established since coming to Notre Dame?

3. routine ceremonial “Traditions, ceremonies, customs, and rituals provide meaning to human existence.” (Cook, 2001)

4.  Repetitive occurrences—often performed unconsciously  Reminders of cultural values  Provide structure and meaning

5. “Let us remind ourselves that we are in the presence of God.” John Baptist de LaSalle

6.  Daily prayer as a school community  Classroom prayer  School-specific prayers  Multi-cultural prayer

7. “without expressive events, any culture will die” (Deal & Peterson)  School ceremonial rituals  Pep rallies, science fairs, banquets  Catholic Culture  Feast days, Holy days, Commemorative ceremonies  Graduation

8.  Background  New principal learning about the culture of the school. He wants to ‘wait and see’ but notices that some traditions lack Catholic Identity.  Problem  Some traditions are explained well, but some are done simply because they are ‘tradition’

9.  Evaluate current traditions with a committee of staff and students  Discern which established traditions are essential to the current culture of the school  Add components of Catholic Identity to existing traditions. ie. missioning