{"id":60406,"date":"2016-02-02T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=60406"},"modified":"2016-02-02T16:19:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T23:19:10","slug":"inside-room-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2016\/02\/02\/inside-room-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Room 24"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-60742\" src=\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Room24.jpg\" alt=\"Room24\" width=\"250\" height=\"387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Room24.jpg 404w, https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Room24-194x300.jpg 194w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas 2015\u00a0with my family back in England.\u00a0One of the many things I enjoy about taking trips to England\u00a0is\u00a0the plane ride because the time spent at 30,000 feet is usually very productive! I&#8217;m not sure if it&#8217;s simply because I&#8217;m stuck in a seat\u00a0for nine hours, or because people are waiting on me hand and foot, but for whatever reason I tend to get a lot of writing done. The fruits of previous transatlantic\u00a0plane rides have included <a href=\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/dating\/\" target=\"_blank\">my series on Catholic dating<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2014\/09\/18\/why-all-men-should-learn-to-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\">top 11 reasons why every man should learn to dance<\/a>\u00a0and, one of my personal favourites, the\u00a0article\u00a0which explains <a href=\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2012\/04\/01\/he-man\/\" target=\"_blank\">how the He-Man cartoon teaches transubstantiation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This last return trip to the States was a little different, however. Rather than spending my time writing, I spent it reading. Over the course of this\u00a0flight, I read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avemariapress.com\/product\/1-59471-649-8\/Room-24\/\" target=\"_blank\">Room 24: Adventures of a New Evangelist<\/a>\u00a0by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.katieprejean.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Katie Prejean<\/a>\u00a0from cover-to-cover. The\u00a0book is available through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avemariapress.com\/product\/1-59471-649-8\/Room-24\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ave Maria Press<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Room-24-Adventures-New-Evangelist\/dp\/1594716498\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon<\/a>, and hopefully\u00a0after you&#8217;ve read this review you&#8217;ll go order a copy, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.katieprejean.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">her website<\/a>\u00a0and follow her\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katieprejean\" target=\"_blank\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On the\u00a0return flight to America, I had the entire row of seats to myself which made for a much more comfortable flight.\u00a0As I write this review, I am once again on a plane, this time from\u00a0New York City, and once again I have the entire row of\u00a0seats to myself. Now, I&#8217;m not promising that if you buy this book it will automatically entitle <strong>you<\/strong> to extra leg room, but please allow me a few minutes to explain why I enjoyed this book so much&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"860\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C8WbdueMMhg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Enter Room 24<\/h3>\n<p>The book focusses around Room 24, the classroom at St. Louis Catholic High School where Katie teaches Theology. At the beginning of the\u00a0book, she\u00a0explains that she came to the job with a desire not only to teach, but to evangelize, to inspire her students, to share her passion and love for Jesus and His Church. Over the course of the book&#8217;s ten chapters, Katie describes her early years&#8217; teaching at the school, telling\u00a0stories from\u00a0the classroom and sharing some of the hard lessons she had to learn along the way.<\/p>\n<p>I found this book a very easy to read and accessible. I practically read it in a single sitting, with only brief breaks between chapters for the flight attendants to serve me lunch and afternoon tea :-). The chapters aren&#8217;t too long and each has\u00a0a very focussed topic. The text isn&#8217;t dry either, illustrated with copious anecdotes from life at the school. In fact, probably one of my favourite features of the book was the transcript at the beginning of each chapter of an exchange between Katie and one of her students:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Student:<\/strong> <em>Miss Prejean,\u00a0you don&#8217;t look so good today.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Me:<\/strong> <em>Yeah, I&#8217;m not feeling well&#8230;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Student:<\/strong> <em>Well, I was talking about your outfit, but I&#8217;m sorry you&#8217;re sick.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Tough topics<\/h3>\n<p>The book covers quite a lot of material over its 140 pages. It begins in dramatic fashion with an encounter between Katie and a\u00a0student in her class who said he didn&#8217;t believe in God, later deciding that he&#8217;d prefer to read\u00a0<em>The God Delusion<\/em>\u00a0by Richard Dawkins during her class instead. Using this incident as the launching point, Katie\u00a0spends the rest of the chapter discussing how we can extend<em><span style=\"color: #000080\"> &#8220;an invitation to the Truth rather than forcing a point&#8221;<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>There were other parts of the book which likewise didn&#8217;t shy away from difficult topics. For example, when speaking about prayer, Katie talks about\u00a0how she wrestled with the illness\u00a0of a close family friend who died despite being a wonderful person and having a legion of Christians praying for her. The section discussing burn-out and the toll of ministry life was likewise frank and honest.<\/p>\n<h3>The serious business of Heaven<\/h3>\n<p>If all this seems really heavy, please don&#8217;t let me give you a false impression of this book &#8211; it is peppered throughout with humour, such as the hilarious story of\u00a0the time her students set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianmingle.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Christian Mingle<\/a> account without her knowledge in order to find her a husband!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Me:<\/strong> <em>How do you make a hot dog stand?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Students:<\/strong> <em>[Blank Expressions]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Me:<\/strong> <em>Take away its chair!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Student A:<\/strong> <em>Do you have any idea how lame you are, Miss Prejean?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\"><strong>Student B:<\/strong> <em>Lamer than the guys that Jesus healed in the gospels!<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are lots of other really lovely stories within the pages of &#8220;Room 24&#8221;, such as the time when Katie&#8217;s Lenten resolution inadvertently inspired students to spend time\u00a0in the school\u00a0chapel before class. The subject of\u00a0joy is\u00a0explored in some depth since,\u00a0as C.S. Lewis said, <span style=\"color: #000080\">&#8220;<\/span><em><span style=\"color: #000080\">\u2026joy is the serious business of Heaven&#8221;<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My favourite part of the book was\u00a0where she discussed how she handled\u00a0students&#8217; questions which didn&#8217;t coincide nicely with the lesson plan for the day. I have often come across a similar\u00a0dilemma in\u00a0leading Bible study when a tangential question is raised. As a leader, you want to get through the planned\u00a0material in a timely manner, but you also want to embrace\u00a0the enthusiasm and the curiosity of the group. Katie&#8217;s solution to this was great. She asked her students to set aside\u00a0one page of their notebooks to write down questions as they thought of them. She then instituted\u00a0<em>&#8220;Stump Miss Prejean&#8221;<\/em>. On one random class\u00a0of the month, students would enter the classroom to the theme tune of\u00a0<em>&#8220;The Price is Right&#8221;<\/em>, where they&#8217;d have the opportunity to ask her any and all questions, ranging from the nature of the Trinity, to how she styles\u00a0her hair.<\/p>\n<h3>Just for kids?<\/h3>\n<p>During my time in the Church, I have done a little bit of youth ministry and subsequently I&#8217;ve got nothing but respect for those people who minister to kids and teenagers. Before I left England, I was a catechist for a Confirmation class. I still occasionally wake up in the middle of the night sweating and screaming, haunted by the memories of trying to\u00a0minister to teenagers&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>One of the things that I liked best about this book was that, although it is set\u00a0in a high school, what Katie\u00a0teaches is applicable to many situations\u00a0in life.\u00a0This is more than just a book for those who wish to teach in high school or\u00a0evangelize teenagers. If you want to hear some funny stories and learn how to become a better witness\u00a0to those you\u00a0meet everyday, this is the book for you.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"color: #000080\">&#8220;&#8230;being a &#8216;classroom evangelist&#8217; allows me to introduce the Way, the Truth and the Life to every person that steps into Room 24 with a \u00a0passion and vigor that can transform the world. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #000080\">Change the word &#8220;classroom&#8221; to whatever you like: business office evangelist, grocery-store-aisle evangelist, or complete-strange-in-an-elevator evangelist. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #000080\">Those of us with the opportunity to witness to our faith, in every setting and at any moment, must remember that at the heart of evangelization is Jesus Christ&#8230;who wants to meet us, love us, and transform us. This book is a snapshot of how that &#8220;meeting Jesus&#8221; has played out in a classroom full of fourteen-year-olds and how the principles learned there are applicable anywhere&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080\">&#8211; Room 24, Katie Prejean<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas 2015\u00a0with my family back in England.\u00a0One of the many things I enjoy about taking trips to England\u00a0is\u00a0the plane ride because the time spent at 30,000 feet is usually very productive! I&#8217;m not sure if it&#8217;s simply because I&#8217;m stuck in a seat\u00a0for nine hours, or because people are waiting on me hand and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[401,171,1886,2969,3576,3559,3575,3574,1196],"class_list":["post-60406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","tag-book","tag-evangelism","tag-evangelization","tag-featured","tag-katie-and-tommy","tag-katie-prejean","tag-religious-studies","tag-room-24","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Katie.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60406"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60766,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60406\/revisions\/60766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}