Student Life
Spiritual Life
ALL SCHOOL MASS
1:00 – 2:00pm
August 23
September 15
October 11 (& Rosary)
November 1
December 8
January 10 (Adoration of Life)
February 22 (Ash Wednesday)
March 23
April 13
May 11 (Rosary & May Crowning)
PENANCE
1:00pm
August 22
December 7
ADORATION
8:00am – 2:00pm
September 9
October 7
November 4
December 9
January 6
January 10
February 10
March 10
April 14
May 12
RELIGIOUS FORMATION AND MINISTRY
The Religious Formation and Ministry programs are founded on the basic premise that the Catholic School exists to further the new evangelization through intentional discipleship.
In Educating Together in Catholic Schools, the Congregation for Catholic Education identified the fundamental aim of the Catholic school as one of “forming the person in the integral unity of his being.” In response to this call, Catholic schools in the United States shine forth as beacons of hope in our increasingly secular culture. More than ever we need strong Catholic schools, perhaps our most effective means to bring families and children to completeness in the image of Jesus Christ.
As a Catholic Christian community, we share the tasks to proclaim Christ’s message, to participate in efforts to develop community, to lead people to worship and prayer, and to motivate everyone in the spirit of service and justice.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
All School Masses will be offered about once a month as an opportunity to gather as a community in order to worship the triune God of Christian faith and to be nourished by Word and Sacrament.
Students will also have the opportunity to spend some extra time in prayer at a chapel service immediately after school on First Fridays of the month. Confessions will also be available, at this time. Eucharistic adoration will be available for the students and community on the Second Fridays of the month. Community members can sign up for an adoration time through our Midweek Update News email.
Retreat Program (retreat opportunities may vary from year to year)
The retreat program at Fisher Catholic has been developed to allow young people time away from their everyday routine for the purpose of reflection, prayer, and encounter with Jesus Christ. Given this opportunity to meet and deepen their relationship with Jesus also allows them to deepen their
relationships with their classmates since the more they come to know Jesus the more they are led to see Him in their brothers and sisters. While on retreat, the students are encouraged to apply the content of the Catholic faith to their own lives by engaging in age appropriate exercises involving diverse learning styles. They are also provided with time for silent prayer and meditation. In the end, the hope is that students will recognize that the Christian faith is a personal faith; that is, it is about personal relationship with Jesus and with His Body, the Church.
9th, 10th and 12th Grade Days of Reflection (Mandatory)
Our freshmen and sophomore retreats are held during the school day. It is the student’s responsibility to find transportation to and from the location and to bring lunch, as we travel to an off campus location. The themes of these retreats will vary depending upon the needs of the community but will include: prayer, morality, spirituality, and living as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
11th Grade (Mandatory)
Service Life / ECHO
What is ECHO?
ECHO is an acronym for Encountering Christ by Helping Others, which is Fisher Catholic’s new student service program. ECHO is designed to help students live out the Gospels, take pride in works of charity and service, play an integral role in bettering and creating meaningful ties to our communities, and increase our faith. ECHO challenges our students to observe the world around them in search of those in need, work with others in their communities to plan and execute discreet service events (called ECHO Encounters) that students can contribute to, and to reflect on what they learned from the event about those in need, about themselves, and our Catholic faith.
What is an ECHO Encounter?
An ECHO Encounter is an FCHS-approved service event (or series of events) designed and intended to provide FCHS students with opportunities to serve Christ by charitable acts of helping those in need.
How does an ECHO Encounter get started?
Ideas for ECHO Encounters come from many places – students, parents, teachers, parishioners, and others within the FCHS community. To take these ideas and make them into Encounters, they can be submitted to or discussed with the school principal (Dr. Lozada), Father Ty Tomson, or Mr. Matt Shaw (parent volunteer) at mshaw@cdeducation.org or 614-571-0973 (call or text). Father Ty has approval authority to make the idea an “official” ECHO Encounter. Once approved, Mr. Shaw typically adds them to a working list of ideas and works with students, parent volunteers, and community partners to get them through the Encounter Pipeline steps.
How does an ECHO Encounter get approved?
Scopes for individual Encounters are developed by students, parents, and others in the Fisher community. New ideas ultimately need to be approved by Fr. Ty Thompson.
What is the scope of an ECHO Encounter?
Each Encounter is a well-defined “event” or series of events that helps people in need in some material or spiritual way. Ideally, each Encounter is an event that lasts on the order of 4-6 hours in length and require 10-30 students to complete. That said, the scope for each Encounter will vary widely in terms of time commitment required. For example, approved Encounter “A” could require 30 students for 6 hours on a Saturday to pack boxes for a local food pantry, approved Encounter “B” could require 4 students to help buy and deliver presents for children of incarcerated parents, and approved Encounter “C” could require students to mentor and tutor young children once per week for several weeks. On occasion, single-person Encounters can be approved (e.g., PSR teaching assistant, lead for weekly worship service).
What are the ECHO requirements for FCHS students?
Each FCHS student is required to contribute to – and write a brief Reflection Paper about his/her experience with – at least one ECHO Encounter per quarter, and a minimum of six per school year. Students will submit their Reflection Paper for a grade in their Theology class. Failure to submit at least one Reflection Paper per quarter will result in an “Incomplete” in the class for that quarter. It is each student’s individual responsibility to ensure that they meet the quarterly and yearly requirements of ECHO (i.e., they need to seek out, contribute to, and write Reflection Papers for at least one Encounter per quarter and six for the school year).
How do students find out about and express interest in individual ECHO Encounters?
Communication about ECHO Encounters occurs during monthly assemblies and guild meetings, announcements in their Theology classes, morning and afternoon announcements, general “word of mouth”, and via a “sign up” binder in the front office with lists of some (not all) upcoming Encounters. All students are highly encouraged to generate ideas for and lead their own Encounters so that they are, by default, in the know!
How do students get selected to participate in individual Encounters?
Many of our Encounters can use as many student volunteers as want to participate (e.g., an outdoor pro-life walk), whereas others have a limit on how many volunteers can participate (e.g., visit to nursing home with limited space). In cases where more students would like to contribute than there are places for, student and adult leaders will work to help those who need quarterly credit the most. Students can always volunteer to be the respective student leader of an Encounter they conceive and plan.
How can adults and existing organizations become involved in ECHO?
We are looking for more adult volunteers to help conceive of, plan, lead, and execute ECHO Encounters. We are also looking for more existing organizations (e.g., St. Vincent de Paul, Habitat for Humanity, Bottoms Up) that we can partner with to serve people in our community. Please contact Principal Lozada, Father Ty, or Mr. Shaw (mshaw@cdeducation.org or 614-571-0973 ) with your Encounter ideas and availability to volunteer. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
Pro-Life Club
MISSION STATEMENT
“Through Him was life and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:4-5.
The Fisher Catholic Irish4Life Club is a proactive organization whose function/duty is to promote any and all pro-life issues among the faculty, staff, student population and the community at large. We believe that God calls us to minister to all people from the womb until the moment of natural death and that God desires a world that seeks the goodness of life in all of creation. The organization pledges to protect human life from any and all threats to our shared dignity while also fostering a respect for life in its other diverse manifestations in creation. The organization pledges to build a culture of life by growing in awareness of the issues that promote a culture of death (abortion, euthanasia, drug addiction, human trafficking, the death penalty, etc.) and working to change the world in which we live by word and deed.
CLUB COVENANT
In the Irish4Life Club, we are committed to the journey to end abortion and to increase respect for all human life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. The annual March for Life in Washington D.C. is an important aspect of the Fisher Catholic Irish4Life Club; however, due to the current pandemic, the administration of the Diocese of Columbus has determined that all members of Catholic High Schools are required to refrain from participation in school-sponsored field trips. Other events and activities will be offered throughout the entire school year (participating in the PDHC Baby Bottle Campaign, hearing a pro-life speaker, fundraising, etc.) to inspire club members to create and support a culture of life. Club members must participate in a minimum of two club-sponsored events. In addition to these events and activities, regular attendance from September 2020 – April 2021 in Irish4Life Club meetings is mandatory.
We will meet on the MONDAYS of each month from 2:35 – 3:00. We will use meeting time to plan for events and to increase awareness/knowledge of pro-life topics, issues, etc. We may also use meeting time to pray a “Rosary for Life”. It goes without saying that each member will also continually pray and sacrifice for an end to abortion and an increase in respect for life.
For inquiries, please contact Jack Welsh, Irish4Life Club Moderator, at jwelsh@cdeducation.org
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is an organization sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (Reston, VA). National Honor Society membership is open to juniors and seniors upon invitation. The Society selects its members based on national standards. There are four qualities required of its members: they are scholarship, character, leadership, and service. To qualify scholastically, a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative grade point average is required.
National Honor Society is a service organization dedicated to bettering the school and the community at large. Students are selected for their excellence in four areas: service, leadership, scholarship, and character. During the course of the school year, our NHS chapter engages in service projects like donating money, food, and clothing to the poor, sponsoring school activities to raise school spirit and sponsor a sense of community, holding fundraising drives to benefit worthy national, local, and school charities, and running a tutoring program to mentor fellow Fisher students in need of academic help.
Junior and Senior students earning a cumulative GPA of 3.5 higher must meet the following pre-requisite (sophomores will be invited following the first semester):
- Candidates must submit to the NHS advisor (Cathy Henry) a request to receive the application packet of information for consideration of NHS.
- A formal typed request must be 200-250 words stating why the candidate feels he or she could potentially be a member of NHS.
- Clearly documented commitment to leadership and service.
For inquiries, please contact Cathy Henry, NHS Advisor, at chenry@cdeducation.org.
Interact Club
INTERACT VISION STATEMENT
Interact is committed to broadening friendships while seeking to improve our community (on and off campus) We strive to develop leadership skills in our members that will contribute to making a difference in the world.
The Interact Club of Fisher Catholic is a branch of Rotary of Lancaster and they work to help the people in our community. During Spring Break, they travel to New York to work with Jim Killoran for the Fuller Center for Housing. Some recent project of theirs include raising money for the Sophie Mazgay Scholarship fund ($1000.00 raised), collecting toys for Fairfield County Job and Family Services Adopt a Family, and putting together care packages for the military to be sent overseas. They also have helped with creek cleanups, projects such as the Purple Pinkies for Polio Project, and any other volunteer opportunities they can possibly find. Their main goal is to make a difference not only within the Fisher Catholic community, but within the community of Lancaster as a whole.
For inquiries, please contact Martin Barker, Interact Club Advisor, at mbarker@martinbarkerdesign.com.
Student Council
All students who are interested in being a part of Student Council complete an application and compose a short speech declaring why they would be a good candidate and which position they are running for. The candidates have a short assembly with each of their grade levels and their classmates vote on their class officers and representatives. Some of the activities that Student Council sponsors are: Homecoming, Dances, Prom, Spirit Week, leadership programs, fundraisers, and new student welcomes!
Student Council members are expected to meet and maintain the following expectations:
- Maintain passing grades throughout the school year
- Refrain from behavior problems in and out of school
- Assist other students, faculty, parents, and community
- Provide an open line of communication between student body, administration, and community
- Attend all meetings and events on time
- Provide a positive attitude at all times
- Promote school spirit
- Promote and obtain goals set forth in meetings by the Student Council
For inquiries, please contact Katie Gillum, Student Council Moderator, at kgillum@cdeducation.org.