www.sandamianotrades.org/
dio.org/catholic-times/plans-...
#trades #catholic #work #virtue #faith
A team of lay, clerical, and religious Catholics in Springfield, Ill., announced plans for San Damiano College for the Trades on June 19. The school is applying for operating authority from the Illinois Board of Higher Education and plans to recruit the inaugural class of up to 26 students as soon as operating authority has been granted. The college will be located on the grounds of the St. Francis of Assisi Campus on Springfield’s northeast side (4875 LaVerna Road).
The College is designing a three-year program from which graduates would have one year of foundational training in a variety of trades, along with two years of apprenticeship in one trade. Further, they would receive an associate’s degree in the liberal arts (classical great-books approach), along with three years of spiritual direction, pilgrimages, retreats, and training in community life. In addition, San Damiano College’s pay-as-you-earn tuition structure means students will graduate with no debt.
The foundations-year trades training will be offered in on-site shops. Focus in one apprenticeship over the remaining two years is offsite through on-the-job training and technical instruction by union or non-union apprenticeship programs. Students will live on campus. San Damiano College will offer intellectual formation for credit but not academic classes in the sense of a typical college.