A printable version of the 2015 Respect Life display suggestions is available in both English and Spanish.
Suggestions for "Every Life is Worth Living" RespectLife Month Parish/Classroom Display
There are many ways to celebrate Respect Life Month, so the following suggestions are provided simply for your benefit. Your parish or school could put up a display table for one day, for all of Respect Life Month, or leave it up throughout the year. Use what's helpful, adapt ideas for your particular circumstances, and disregard what's not helpful. Materials used in the display pictured above and on the back cover were either purchased from local dollar, craft, and office supply stores or gathered from what was on hand. Have fun thinking outside the box – the sky's the limit!*These
suggestions are just to provide some ideas for parish, school, or personal use.
Be sure to follow the parish, diocesan,
and school policies in place, especially safe environment and parental
rights policies, and obtain permission from the pastor/principal before
moving forward. If you have any
questions about applicable policies, contact your parish, school, diocese,
and/or other relevant authoritative entity.
Tri-fold Poster Board Display:
Add dimension and visual interest to your display table by using a tri-fold poster board.Supplies:
- Tri-Fold board (approximately $4.00)
- Fabric or Poster Paint (approximately $3.00 - $12.00)
- Glue gun (optional)
- Advertisement/Flyers/Posters
Here's what to do:
- Add some color to your tri-fold board! Use some poster board paint or cover it with a colorful piece of fabric, using a glue gun to secure the fabric.
- Use the board to post the Respect Life Poster, flyer or any other information your parish wants to display.
- Add
your own photos.
Twine Photo Display:
Supplies:
- Twine (approximately $3.00)
- Clothespins (approximately $2.00)
- Photos (approximately $4.00)
- Thumbtacks or tape (approximately $2.00)
Here's what to do:
- Collect
photos:
Ask parishioners or students to submit photos of their family members doing various things that depict the 2015-16 Respect Life Program theme, "Every Life is Worth Living." The photos could be of teenagers participating in volunteer work, families spending time together, ultrasounds, grandparents and their grandchildren, or any number of other scenarios. These photos can be black or white, old or new. The goal is to represent the lives of your students or the families in your parish from the beginning of life to the end of life and all the stages in between. Students/minors submitting photos will need parental permission.
Suggested method (parish): Place an announcement in the bulletin and ask the celebrant to draw the congregation's attention to the announcement a few weeks prior to when the display will be set up. Once the display has been set up, the celebrant could draw attention to the display in the back. Consider another bulletin announcement requesting photos again, in order to allow as much of the parish community to participate as possible. (When setting up the display, you might consider clipping empty clothespins on the twine to "save room" for the photos that may be submitted after the display is already up.)
Suggested method (school): Ask students to bring in pictures that can be used for a classroom display (conditional upon parental consent). - Cut
a piece of twine to fit the size of the space you are using, with a little
extra on each side. For example, you could display it on a tri-fold board, or
you could hang the poster on a wall and extend real twine out from the poster on
either side, with pictures hanging from it. Whatever format you choose, please
be sure to obtain the necessary approvals.
- Clip
your photos to the twine with the clothespins. (If you want to add some flair,
you can mount photos onto patterned scrapbook paper before hanging the photos.
- Hang the display up so everyone can see the beauty of life in your parish!
"Every Life is Worth Living" Sign:
Supplies:
- Printer Paper or Colored/Scrapbook Paper
- Twine (approximately $3.00)
- Clothespins (approximately $2.00)
- Glue (approximately $2.00)
Here's what to do (see back cover for examples):
- Print out the letters using one of the many free fonts available online. (These can be found by doing an online search.)
- Print out 22 square pennants. (Free templates can be found by doing an online search.)
- Cut out the letters and square pennants.
- Paste the letters onto the square, or print the letters out onto the square pennants.
- Clothespin the pennants to the twine just like you did with the photo display.
- Put
it up behind your table or in another visible location!
Simple Brochure Stands:
Supplies:
- Pocket folders or manila folders (approx. $2.00 - $3.00)
- Scissors (approx. $2.00)
Here's what to do:
- Print
the instructions.
- Looking at the instructions, mark where the dotted lines are in pencil on the folder. (If you are using a pocket folder, make sure to remove the pockets before you start tracing).
- Cut out the easels from the folder (2 or 3 easels can be made out of each folder).
- Tape down the corners to the table, or weight the bottom edges with decorative rocks or pebbles.
- Place the brochure on the stand!
Other Ideas:
- Include a bouquet of silk flowers with some marbles at the bottom for decoration.
- Candles are an excellent accent, especially if you can find the flameless kind to add a little twinkle to your table. However, even if you aren't able to find flameless candles, unlit candles also add a lovely touch.
- Pictures frames are an inexpensive, fun, trendy way to display information or direct people to materials on your table. Paint one of the glass panes with chalkboard paint, which can be written on with chalk, and put a piece of scrapbook paper in another, which can be written on with dry-erase marker.
- To add some color and polish, use a colored tablecloth and/or some wide burlap off a spool as a table runner.
- Use a cake stand to add height and dimension to your table, and fill it with treats.