Search for Christian Maturity Retreat
An Understanding
Sharing the Catholic faith is the primary mission of Notre Dame High School. SEARCH FOR CHRISTIAN MATURITY is a retreat designed to "give participants the desire and tools to see and bring Christ into their own environment and share Him with everyone around them." Notre Dame and SEARCH participate in the overall mission of the Catholic Church. They are compatible even though the retreat is not officially a function of the high school. The reality is that resources, including personnel, are shared for the benefit of the entire Christian community, e.g., the Spiritual Director is the same for both. Team members (leaders), both youth and adults, are traditionally faculty and students at the school. With this in mind, all members of the community at NDHS and of SEARCH FOR CHRISTIAN MATURITY desire to come to an understanding of the needs of each and to work together to meet those needs adequately with the following guidelines.
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SEARCH is a full, time-consuming weekend that begins immediately after school on Friday for the leaders (7 pm for the participants) and ends on Sunday afternoon at 5 pm, for SEARCHers, and 7 pm for team members. The understanding is that NDHS teachers will not assign homework, tests, or quizzes to these students that would be due on Monday following a SEARCH weekend.
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NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL and SEARCH desire to build the total person of the student. Students are expected to meet their academic responsibilities. The understanding is that students who miss school on Friday prior to a SEARCH weekend for whatever reason will not be allowed to attend the SEARCH retreat (An exception would be a pre-approved appointment with the doctor.).
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SEARCH is an intense spiritual, emotional, and physical weekend which expends the energy of the participants and requires them to "catch up on sleep" after the experience. The understanding is that NDHS student participants and leaders on SEARCH will be allowed to "catch up on sleep" the Monday following SEARCH. They will be allowed to be excused from school on the Monday following SEARCH. They will be expected to be completely prepared for classes on Tuesday. This may include quizzes and tests scheduled for Tuesday, and homework due on Tuesday.
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SEARCH is about love and sharing love. The understanding is that SEARCHers will return to Notre Dame High School filled with the fire of Christ from their retreat and that they will want to share it with others. This is reflected in their and their parents' positive attitude towards the Notre Dame faculty and cooperation with all of these understandings.
For additional information on SEARCH, contact Father Anthony Dickerson, Spiritual Director of Notre Dame High School at (423) 624-4618, ext. 1006.
*Note: If you have lost your SEARCH cross and would like to purchase a new one, please contact Ms. Gail Nevins at ext. 1300, or by email