Welcome to the brand new Edge Semester Planning Guide! The goal of this resource is to help you provide systematic and complete catechesis for your middle school youth while providing opportunities for evangelization and transformation as well. Each book contains a semesters-worth of catechetical Edge Night outlines.

Beginning with the March 2010 resources, we will be presenting a six-semester Edge curriculum. This systematic approach to middle school catechesis is designed to create a foundation for the United States Council of Catholic Bishops’ Framework for High School Catechesis. The six semesters are as follows:

• Scripture
• Creed
• Church
• Sacraments
• Prayer
• Social Justice

In addition to these semester topics, we will also provide 1-2 nights on Catholic Morality to be used within each semester. With each new book our goal is to provide you with nights that are Catholic, educational, relevant and on the middle school level.

Life Teen recommends that a 3-year (or 6 semester) catechetical plan be implemented in each parish to ensure that complete and quality catechesis is offered to every middle school youth involved in an Edge program. While you do not have to use the semesters in the order that we present them, each book will topically build on each other and work together to create a systematic curriculum. As always, refer to your diocesan requirements for middle school catechesis to help plan your parish’s curriculum.

2010 brings a new look and feel to the Edge Semester Planning Guide resource. While the basic outline and format of the Edge outlines is the same (Gather, Proclaim, Break and Send) you will notice that there are some new additions to help you more effectively adapt and plan these nights for your middle school youth:

• Environment – Setting the room up with an environment can help the middle school youth feel more connected. The youth will be able to walk into the room and see that something is different and it points to the meaning of the Edge Night. Keep it simple!
• Media Suggestion Sidebar – No one can deny the influence of media on teens. This section gives various media (music, TV, movies, YouTube) that can be used within the Edge Night to support the topic presented.
• To The Parents Of – Parents are the primary catechists of their youth and we must be intentional about including them on the journey. This section gives a brief overview of the Edge Night as well as discussion questions and activities for the ride home or throughout the week. Send the information to parents via email or in a flyer handed out as the youth leave.
• Adaption Ideas Sidebar – This new section will give practical ideas on how to adapt the Edge Night outline depending on the size of the group.

As always, Edge Nights should be adapted to meet your parish needs. As you plan, be sure to keep in consideration the needs of your youth, Core Team and parish. For example, the teaching outline for each night is filled with more information than a typical middle school youth can absorb during a 7-10 minute talk. By giving the presenter more than enough information, he or she can create an engaging and informative presentation. Encourage the presenter to look through the Scriptural and Catechism of the Catholic Church references to gain better understanding of the topic. Media, of course is important. Feel free to use the media suggestions listed, along with the videos on the Edge Video Support DVD (included in the Edge Support shipment).

Thank you for your dedication to the young people of your parish. We at Life Teen are here to serve you in your mission of leading youth closer to Christ. We pray that this Edge Semester Planning Guide will allow you to more effectively reach and form your middle school youth as vibrant, active and holy Disciples of Christ.