Activities

All middle school and high school teens are invited to make the daytrip to Valleyfair amusement park on Wednesday July 14th 2010. Bring sack lunches and/or money for meals. We will have coolers available on the bus. We'll leave St Joe's parking lot at 6:15am and return there about 10:15pm. Cost is only $50, which must be paid before boarding the bus. Here is the registration form, which is due by Monday July 12th. Once the bus is full, however, no more registrations will be accepted, unless you can provide your own transportation, in which event the cost is $30. We also need a few adult chaperones, for whom the cost is $25.

Retreats

All teens are encouraged to attend retreats. Retreats can be just a morning or an afternoon, or up to a week or longer. A weekend retreat can be a terrific way to connect with peers and with God. You can expect to be changed by every retreat you participate in, if you are willing to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Candidates for Confirmation are required to participate in at least one overnight retreat during the school year in which they are confirmed. Retreats listed here meet that requirement.

TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreats are very popular here in the Crookston diocese, and with good reason. Sponsored by Agassiz Valley TEC, they are held at Mount St Benedict Center in Crookston, usually on a weekend followed by a school holiday on Monday, and run from Saturday morning until late Monday afternoon. The cost is $75. You are responsible for your own transportation, but carpooling is usually available. You must be at least a junior in high school to participate in a TEC retreat and there is no upper age limit. Occasionally a parent will attend with their child and it becomes a treasured memory for them both. AVTEC retreats will begin on Jan 16th; February 13th; and March 13th of 2010. There is also an AVTEC retreat in April, but it would not meet the Confirmation requirement because it is too close to our Confirmation date in April. Check out the AVTEC web site for more information and a registration form, here.

Youth 2000 will have a retreat at Mount St Benedict in Crookston the weekend of March 19-21. This is a deeply spirit-filled prayer and worship experience. If you think you might like that sort of thing see JimW for registration details.

D-Week is Discipleship Week, summer retreats held for high school youth at various locations around the country. During Discipleship Week teens learn key principles and truths which reveal the importance and adventure of living an abundant faith-filled Catholic life! They will discover (or rediscover) the rich practices and beliefs of our Catholic faith which come alive as they progress through the week. The Crookston D-Week is designed for incoming 9th - 12th grade students. D-Week 2010 is scheduled June 14-17 at Sand Hill Lake, near Fosston, Minnesota. More information will be available as D-Week registration time approaches. Cost is minimal and scholarships and group fundraising are available.

Steubenville North. This summer 2,000 teens from all over the U.S. and Canada are coming to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota, to share their faith, their stories, and their love of Jesus Christ. The event is Steubenville North, and Partnership for Youth teams up with the Franciscan University of Steubenville to present this dynamic weekend conference again, July 16-18, 2010. Space is limited, so you need to register soon to make sure you get to go. We will be doing some fundraising to make sure no one stays home because of finances.