By Susan Ciancio
Judie Brown, president of American Life League, is not just passionate about protecting preborn babies, the sick, and the vulnerable. She’s passionate about teaching the importance of protecting preborn babies, the sick, and the vulnerable. She understands that, in order to build a culture of life, we must teach respect and dignity for all people—born and preborn. And the best time to start teaching this is when people are young. When children grow up with this foundation and the understanding that all human beings have value, they will be more likely to treat them with love and respect.
That was her vision for the Culture of Life Studies Program—American Life League’s pro-life educational program for students preschool aged through high school. And in 2014, under Judie’s guidance, a group of educators and homeschool moms began creating lessons that range from one-day lessons on saints, including our newest lesson on St. John Bosco, to four-day lessons on euthanasia, the sanctity of marriage, and the preborn baby to four-week picture book lessons about caring for and protecting others, and more!
Over the years, as the program has evolved, we have seen tremendous growth. These lessons are used throughout the country in Catholic schools, by homeschoolers, in religious education programs, and in youth groups.
Rosemary Circo, a middle school teacher in California who uses many of the CLSP lessons in her classroom, wrote to say how much her students enjoyed the lesson on St. Maximilian Kolbe. She stated: “My students loved his lesson and the project. They made their own radio commercials about St. Max’s life using Flipgrid. A genius lesson.” She followed this up by saying that she recently created a library system for the school so that all teachers have access to our resources. We are thrilled that the students at St. Bruno Catholic School are learning the importance of protecting all human beings.
As the new school year begins, we want to introduce more people to our program and explain how easy it is to integrate CLSP lessons into any curriculum—be it in a school, a homeschool, a religious ed program, or a youth group.
The Culture of Life Studies Program is unique, as it’s the only Catholic “culture of life” educational program to:
- Provide pre-k through high school lessons and unit studies for implementation in multiple learning environments. Every study includes practical applications of the ideas and truths taught, helping both students and educators to become effective communicators of the culture of life.
- Utilize subject-matter experts (doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, and religious clergy) and some of the greatest pro-life minds in the world to help create solid materials that inspire and motivate students to both live and promote the culture of life—all while protecting the innocence of our audience.
- Create materials that can be easily integrated into religion, history, science, literature, government, art, music, and other classes.
- Delve deep into subject matters and into the lives of historical figures paramount to both understanding and defeating the culture of death.
- Pair the philosophical foundations of the pro-life position with real-world, hands-on applications for students by providing them with the tools necessary to articulate the message, defend the position, and live out the culture of life in every aspect of their daily lives.
All of our lessons are age appropriate and adhere to Catholic teaching. Many even have a nihil obstat and an imprimatur.
Pro-life education is more important now than ever. Why?
Take a look at the state of our country. The culture of death has gotten a stranglehold in politics, in schools, on social media, and on TV. Everywhere we turn, we see a rejection of morality, a disdain for faith, and an attempt to be “woke.”
One particularly egregious example comes from Florida where Sarasota school board member Tom Edwards said at a meeting last year: “I just wanted to give a little reassurance that here in the state of Florida there are school board members that are woke. We’re here. . . . You need to know we have your backs. And we’re working in the best strategic spot because we’re on the inside. We’re working from the inside.” He goes on to say that he’s not the only one.
Indeed, he is not the only one. This is why we must protect our children. And this is why they need pro-life lessons that teach the truths of our faith, that help them understand the importance of protecting the vulnerable, and that will help them grow into good and moral human beings.
A quote often misattributed to Edmund Burke tells us that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Regardless of who actually said it, the underlying truth speaks volumes. If we—as parents and educators—do nothing to help the children in our lives grow in their faith and learn to care for and protect the vulnerable, the sick, the elderly, and the preborn, evil will prevail.
That’s why—now more than ever—the CLSP is so relevant and so important.
Our lessons all help build a culture of life in your home or school so that you and your students can build a culture of life in your community. So whether you’re a teacher or a concerned parent, you can use any of our downloadable lessons to help your children or students grow in the faith. And this is exactly what we need in a world steeped in wokeness and godlessness.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report at catholicworldreport.com/2022/08/16/start-the-new-school-year-with-pro-life-education.
