Theology teacher Kevin Zenner stands in his classroom at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights July 16 as he prepares to teach a group of incoming sixth-graders. In the background at left is a jersey he received from his nephew, Zach Zenner, who played for the Detroit Lions in the NFL for five years. At righ, in the back corner of the classroom, are some personal memorabilia, including his high school football jersey, Army uniform and clerics from when he was in the Jesuits. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Kevin Zenner, 63, chair of the Theology Department at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, remembers being the same age as the 17- and 18-year-old seniors who take his advanced morality class. Back then, he didn’t know how much things cost, just like many of his students don’t know today. Things like rent, car insurance, day care, a week of groceries ….

But these issues come up during the course’s section on poverty and economics.

So, for more than 15 years, Zenner has required his students to complete a project that involves searching for jobs for a fictional single mother and identifying living expenses for her and two children, one of whom is an infant. The “Get a Job!” project helps open students’ eyes to the world around them, Zenner said.

It also recently opened the eyes of judges of the first annual University of Notre Dame Teaching Human Dignity contest, sponsored by the university’s Office of Life and Human Dignity in the McGrath Institute for Church Life.

The office asked for instructional plans and materials that address life and human dignity issues that create a rich, powerful learning experience for high school students.

Zenner learned about the contest via email. He entered in January and July 1 won first place in the curriculum resource category. A second-place winner also was announced, as well as a winner and second place in a unit/lesson resource category.

In a couple of months, Zenner’s curriculum will be available at no cost to teachers across the country in the office’s “Teaching Human Dignity” series, and it will be posted on the Notre Dame office’s website.

Designed by Notre Dame faculty members, the Teaching Human Dignity series is a collection of lesson plans and resources designed to empower teachers to incorporate life and human dignity issues into existing curriculum. Resources on the death penalty are available now and units addressing incarceration and racism are being developed.

Zenner said he chose a scenario with a single mother and young children because that demographic is the most common family unit receiving assistance for child care, food, health care, housing and employment in Minnesota.

For an assigned city, such as Bloomington and West St. Paul, students research jobs to learn what they pay, what the hours are and what qualifications are required. They also list the cost of basic living requirements, including groceries, car insurance, transportation, health insurance and the most eye-opening one: day care.
They call day care providers for costs and hours.

“Generally speaking,” Zenner said, “they find the job Mary can get barely covers day care.” Students wonder why she would work if her salary is nearly swallowed up by day care. They quickly realize that’s why some mothers don’t work, he said.

While knowing the cost of living is valuable, the project also looks at how society can help the poor, Zenner said.

That discussion and analysis, which follows completion of the project’s details and research, is the project’s greatest fruit, Zenner said. Students discuss how much the state or federal government should help.

“What should we be doing as Christians, as people, as human beings?” Zenner asked. “It really brings us back to basic morality. How best can we love our neighbor?”

The subject Jesus talked about most consistently was poverty, Zenner said, and that society needs to care for the poor. “These are all human beings who have dignity … and we have to respond when they’re in need,” he said.

The golden rule of treating others as one would want to be treated is a primary commandment, Zenner said. People need to reach out and help one another.

“We’re all in this together,” he said.