Healing the Culture Releases a Fantastic High School Curriculum

I had a small hand in helping to put this together, so I can say from firsthand experience that these guys have put together a first-rate piece of work that will enable your student to really internalize the logic of the Catholics (and western) tradition concerning the sanctity of human life.  Phone the neighbors and wake the kids, then rush right out and get this:

Changing the way students think about lifeHealing the Culture introduces comprehensive pro-life high school curriculum

SEATTLE, Sept. 27, 2012 – The rhetoric of popular culture can often cause young people to be embarrassed by pro-life beliefs, or to uncritically embrace a “pro-choice” position. Many young people have bought the line that the pro-life position is out of touch and naïve, or simply represents “knee-jerk obedience to Church authority.”

HEALING THE CULTURE’S new curriculum for high school students, Principles and Choices, is specifically geared toward defeating these myths and stereotypes. The curriculum takes the ten greatest principles of ethics, logic, and justice, and reveals how violations of these principles led equally to the genocide of Indians in the New World; to the Dred Scott decision, which permitted slavery by the “superior race;” and to the Roe v. Wade decision, which permitted abortion on demand.

“Most high school students are struggling to discern the beliefs and principles they’ll live by,” said Camille Pauley, President of Healing the Culture and principal writer of the curriculum. “We have focused on making Principles and Choices a comprehensive toolbox that will help students master the principles of logic, ethics and justice, which in turn lead to pro-life convictions. Our program inspires young people to live with purpose and moral integrity.”

Based on writings by Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., past-President of Gonzaga University, the four-year high-school program not only applies these principles to abortion, but also to other life issues such as euthanasia; physician-assisted suicide; and human cloning.  Principles and Choices includes state-of-the-art, multimedia learning tools that are unmatched in visual appeal, contemporary resources, and depth of content.

As part of the development process, HEALING THE CULTURE tested the curriculum in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Diocese of Mobile, Ala. “I thought that abortion depended on the situation,” said one student after going through the program, “but now I am against it.”

“This is a revolutionary approach to pro-life education,” said Pauley. “Many people think that the debate over abortion and other life issues has become a dreary stalemate of opposing slogans and sound bites, with no one being persuaded. Principles and Choices brings the discussion to a whole new level, and inspires kids to want to learn more.”

About Principles and Choices This unique, comprehensive curriculum covers 15 major themes – happiness; success; quality of life; love; rules of evidence; first principles; ethics; freedom; defining the human person; human dignity; human rights; the common good; human suffering; beginning-of-life issues; and end-of-life issues.

Materials include full color student texts; teacher resources with detailed daily learning plans, text notations, and Scripture and Catechism cross-references; PowerPoint slides with complete lecture notes; four-act drama scripts with companion audio CD; a student website with study tools, research library, discussion forums, and social media integration; and a secure online teacher site with classroom and training materials.

Principles and Choices is designed to be taught as four-week supplemental units in a core class (such as philosophy, ethics, or social issues) over four years. It can also be combined to create one full semester class, or tailored to fit specific needs. “The program is highly adaptable to any teaching style, and doesn’t require teachers to become experts in the subject,” said Pauley, who created Principles and Choices with Fr. Spitzer. “The materials do the heavy lifting.”

About HEALING THE CULTUREHEALING THE CULTURE helps people fully integrate pro-life ideals into the way they think, and how they live their lives. Its philosophical approach to education encourages students to embrace deep and meaningful definitions of human happiness, freedom and rights; and helps them choose to live by universal principles of reason, ethics and justice.

“We founded HEALING THE CULTURE because we saw the pressing need to open people’s hearts to understanding the life issues in a new way,” said Pauley. “We’re committed to opening people’s eyes to the good news that there really is something special about being human.”

For more information on HEALING THE CULTURE and Principles and Choices, or to schedule interviews with co-founders Camille Pauley and Fr. Robert Spitzer, please contact Alexis Walkenstein (561-445-5409 or email AWalkenstein@MaximusMG.com) or Tim Lilley (678-990-9032 or email TLilley@MaximusMG.com) of The Maximus Group.

Also, go to the Healing the Culture website here. Get the info on Principles and Choices right here.

And, by the way, if you want to support them, come to their gala.  Very encouraging stuff!