S QU I R E A DVA N C E M E N T P RO G R A M
ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL REQUIREMENTS with Squire Advancement Record
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S QU I R E A DVA N C E M E N T P RO G R A M ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL REQUIREMENTS with Squire Advancement Record
CONTENTS
Page
1–2
Shield Bearer
3–4
Swordsman
5–6
Lancer
7–8
Squire of the Body of Christ
9–10
PAGE Qualifications Be a Squire in good standing for at least two months. Complete 24 “Page” achievements, minimum of four in each category. Achievements typed in bold face are required for that category. Certifications After completing an achievement, ask your counselor to put his initials and the date on the line next to each achievement, to indicate when the achievement was certified as completed. Achievements marked with an asterisk (*) may be certified by a parent’s/guardian’s initials and the date. Your counselor will also enter the certification dates into his copy of your Squire Advancement Record. If an elective is completed, write the name or a description of the elective activity on the line provided. Home and Family _____________ *1 - Lead your family in a blessing before your evening meal for at least one week _____________ *2 - Hold a family talent night _____________ *3 - Have a game night with your family to play board, card, video or other games _____________ *4 - Create a photo album or scrapbook of your family’s activities or achievements _____________ *5 - Use a new recipe to cook a meal for your family _____________ *6 - Celebrate a holiday with your family with decorations and a holiday meal _____________ *7 - Go on an outdoor outing (picnic, camping trip, sledding, fishing, etc.) with your family _____________ *8 - Go on a cultural outing (to a theater, museum, historical site, etc.) with your family _____________ *9 - Elective - _________________________________________________ Squires and Knights _____________ 1 - Know the Squires motto and be able to describe the meaning of each symbol in the Squires emblem _____________ 2 - Name the founder of the Knights of Columbus and when, where and how it was started _____________ 3 - Name the founder of the Columbian Squires and when, where and how it was started _____________ 4 - Know the names of the officers and counselors of the circle and the officers of the state circle _____________ 5 - Serve on a circle committee and attend circle and committee meetings for at least 2 months
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_____________ 6 - Know how to make, amend or dispose of a motion, ask a point of information or adjourn a meeting using Parliamentary Procedure _____________ 7 - Attend an activity sponsored by your sponsoring council or assembly _____________ 8 - Recruit a friend as a new Squire _____________ 9 - Elective - ____________________________________________________ Community and Country ____________ 1 - U.S. Squires, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and know about its origin, including the words “under God” ____________ 2 - Learn the history and words of your National Anthem, how it was chosen as the national anthem, and sing it with your circle _____________ 3 - Learn and demonstrate the proper way to display, hoist, lower and fold the flag _____________ 4 - Name the major geographic features in your town, such as lakes, rivers, hills, parks, etc. _____________ 5 - Name the symbols of your nation and state/province, such as the official bird and flower _____________ 6 - Name and know the purpose of the patriotic holidays specific to your country, such as Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day in the U.S. _____________ 7 - Describe the type of local government in your town (mayor/council, selectman/council, Board of Education, town meeting, county commissioners, city manager, etc.) _____________ 8 - Know the names of the local head of government, the governor/premier of your state/province and the president/prime minister of your country _____________ 9 - Elective -_____________________________________________________ Church _____________*1 - Recite the “Ten Commandments” _____________*2 - Recite the “Seven Sacraments” and explain purpose of each _____________*3 - Recite the “Precepts of the Church” _____________*4 - Recite from memory the “Our Father” “Hail Mary” “Glory Be” “Apostle’s Creed” and the “Act of Contrition” _____________*5 - Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation _____________*6 - Attend Mass at least weekly _____________ *7 - Set aside five minutes each day for personal prayer _____________ *8 - Recite the names of the Pope, your bishop and your pastor _____________ *9 - Elective - _________________________________________________
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SHIELD BEARER Qualifications Regular attendance at circle and committee meetings and activities for at least 6 months. Complete 24 Shield Bearer achievements, with a minimum of four in each category. Achievements typed in bold face are required for that category. Certifications After completing an achievement, ask your counselor to put his initials and the date on the line next to each achievement, to indicate when the achievement was certified as completed. Achievements marked with an asterisk (*) may be certified by a parent’s/guardian’s initials and the date. Your counselor will also enter the certification dates into his copy of your Squire Advancement Record. If an elective is completed, write the name or a description of the elective activity on the line provided. Home and Family _____________ *1 - Research and create a “family tree” of your family and relatives _____________ *2 - Put together a jigsaw puzzle or create a craft or artistic item with your family _____________ *3 - Hold a family exercise session _____________ *4 - Attend a sporting event with your family _____________ *5 - Plant a vegetable or flower garden or care for a selection of indoor plants _____________ *6 - Attend a play, concert or movie or watch a video/DVD at home with your family _____________ *7 - Make and decorate a cake, pie or other desert for a birthday or other special occasion _____________ *8 - Go on an outing or other activity with your grandparents _____________ *9 - Elective - __________________________________________________ Squires and Knights ____________ 1 - Know and be able to use the basic motions of Parliamentary Procedure listed in the Squires Advancement Program “Fact Book” or in the “Circle Operations and Executive Leadership Guide” (#498) ____________ 2 - At a circle meeting give a one minute speech about yourself and your family ____________ 3 - Achieve “Very Important Proposer” (VIP) status by recruiting at least 1 new member ____________ 4 - As a Squire, attend a Squires circle investiture ceremony ____________ 5 - Be able to recite a brief biography of Father McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus ____________ 6 - Be able to recite a brief biography of Brother Barnabas, founder of the Columbian Squires 3
____________ 7 - Know the qualifications for the Corps d’Elite Award and the Brother Barnabas Award ____________ 8 - Know the names of the grand knight/faithful navigator of your sponsoring unit, the district deputy, your state or territorial deputy and the supreme knight ____________ 9 - Elective - ______________________________________________________
Community and Country ____________ *1 - Talk to a veteran about his/her experience in the military ____________ *2 - Write a letter about a local issue to a government official or newspaper editor ____________ *3 - Attend a parade with your family or circle ____________ 4 - Participate in the posting of the colors ceremony ____________ 5 - If in a U.S. circle, lead the “Pledge of Allegiance” at a circle meeting ____________ 6 - Listen to a talk to your circle about public safety by a local fire or police official such as the fire chief or chief of police, or other emergency preparedness officer, or take a tour with them of their office and facility ____________ 7 - Attend a local, county, state/province or national government meeting ____________ 8 - Learn about and tell your circle about a historical event that occurred in or near your town ____________ 9 - Elective - ____________________________________________________ Church ____________ *1 - Rosary devotion - a - recite the four categories of Mysteries of the Rosary; b - pray the Rosary alone ____________ *2 - Know the Holy Days of Obligation, the requirements to receive communion and the rules for fast and abstinence during Lent ____________ *3 - Learn about and describe the life of the patron saint after whom you were named ____________ *4 - Say a prayer of intercession to Father McGivney and pray for his canonization ____________ 5 - Take a guided tour of the rectory/parish office to learn what is done there ____________ 6 - Take a guided tour of the church, including the altar, tabernacle, sacristy and pulpit ____________ 7 - Attend a meeting in which a guest speaker talks about some aspect of Church history ____________ 8 - Attend Mass with your Squires circle ____________ 9 - Elective - ____________________________________________
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SWORDSMAN Qualifications Attendance at circle and committee meetings and activities for at least nine months, completed 16 Swordsman achievements, four in each category. Achievements typed in bold face are required for that category. Certifications After completing an achievement, ask your counselor to put his initials and the date on the line next to each achievement, to indicate when the achievement was certified as completed. Achievements marked with an asterisk (*) may be certified by a parent’s/guardian’s initials and the date. Your counselor will also enter the certification dates into his copy of your Squire Advancement Record. If an elective is completed, write the name or a description of the elective activity on the line provided. Home and Family ____________ *1 - Plan and hold an international night with your family, featuring food, music, entertainment and dress from a foreign country ____________ *2 - Keep a scrapbook of your achievements and important papers and awards ____________ *3 - Set up a bird feeder in your yard, identify, list, and report to your circle the number and types of birds that visit over a two week period ____________ *4 - With a parent or guardian, plan your family’s meals for a week, create a grocery list and do the grocery shopping while staying within a pre-set food budget ____________ *5 - Organize a family charity project, such as donating food to a local soup kitchen ____________ *6 - Plan and carry out a home emergency plan, including escape routes, procedures, and obtaining emergency supplies and equipment for different types of possible emergencies ____________ *7 - Help a parent/guardian/grandparent/other relative or neighbor with a home fix-it project, such as painting, repairing or constructing something around the house ____________ *8 - Create a painting/drawing, sculpture, photo exhibit or other type of art or craft project for a 1-3 minute presentation at a circle meeting ____________ *9 - Elective - ___________________________________________________ Squires and Knights ___________ 1 - Give a 1-3 minute speech to your circle about your favorite hobby or sport ___________ 2 - Serve on a circle activity committee and help organize and hold at least two activities sponsored by the committee ____________ 3 - Recruit at least one new member ____________ 4 - Hear a member of the Fourth Degree discuss its history, purpose and membership requirements 5
____________ 5 - Participate in a joint circle/sponsoring council or circle/sponsoring assembly activity ____________ 6 - Listen to a K of C officer discuss why he is a Knight and what he does in the K of C ____________ 7 - Serve as a member of the circle’s ceremonial team and participate in at least one investiture ____________ 8 - Recite the names of the officers of your sponsoring K of C unit, of the state circle, the state council and of the Supreme Council officers ____________ 9 - Elective - _____________________________________________________
Community and Country ____________ *1 - Visit and tour a facility for the poor or homeless, such as a soup kitchen ____________ *2 - Visit and tour a pregnancy help center ____________ *3 - Assist a person who is elderly, ill, injured or who has a disability with some chores around his or her house ____________ *4 - Participate in a program, such as Special Olympics, that supports people who are intellectually, emotionally or physically challenged ____________ 5 - Attend a circle meeting at which your state senator, state representative or other elected or appointed public official, or some other state/ provincial or community leader, is invited to speak ____________ 6 - Plan and carry out a project to clean up, recycle items, or otherwise improve the environment around your house, neighborhood or town ____________ 7 - Join in a walk-a-thon, car wash or other fund raising project to raise money for a worthy cause ____________ 8 - March in a local parade with your circle ____________ 9 - Elective - _____________________________________________________ Church ____________ *1 - Describe the three types of vocations – married, single, clerical ____________ *2 - Describe and distinguish between the role of priests, deacons, brothers, nuns, and lay ministers ____________ *3 - Lead a personal prayer at a Squires meeting ____________ 4 - Lead a decade of the rosary in a group ____________ 5 - Be trained and serve as an altar server ____________ 6 - Attend a circle meal with the pastor and/or father prior at the rectory ____________ 7 - Participate in a circle sponsored Mass in which you participate in the choir, as an usher, altar server, lector, Eucharistic Minister or in some other active role ____________ 8 - Attend Mass at the arch/diocesan cathedral and tour the chancery office to learn the duties of the various arch/diocesan offices and ministries meet the cardinal/arch/bishop, if available, to discuss the hierarchy of the Catholic Church ____________ 9 - Elective - ____________________________________________________ 6
LANCER Qualifications Attendance at circle and committee meetings and activities for at least one year, accomplish 16 Lancer achievements, four in each category. Achievements typed in bold face are required for that category.
Certifications After completing an achievement, ask your counselor to put his initials and the date on the line next to each achievement, to indicate when the achievement was certified as completed. Achievements marked with an asterisk (*) may be certified by a parent’s/guardian’s initials and the date. Your counselor will also enter the certification dates into his copy of your Squire Advancement Record. If an elective is completed, write the name or a description of the elective activity on the line provided. Home and Family
____________ *1 - Video or write a family history by interviewing your siblings, parents and grandparents ____________ *2 - With your parents’ permission, redecorate your bedroom or another room in your home ____________ *3 - With your parents, review or create a budget for your family, and a budget for yourself based on your allowance or wages and expenses ____________ *4 - Use a computer program, or graph paper, to design what your future home, an addition on your current home, or some other building or architectural design, might look like ____________ *5 - Write a short story, play, or poem, or the lyrics for song ____________ *6 - Pray the Rosary with your parents daily for one week, for seven Sundays, or on seven other occasions ____________ *7 - With a friend or two, perhaps at dinner, bring your parents up to date on the current youth scene, describing the newest in clothing fashions, fads, slang, music/CDs, dances, movies/videos/DVDs, computer games, television shows, sports and dating trends ____________ *8 - Use a computer or paper to record the weather conditions at your house for one month ____________ *9 - Elective - __________________________________________________ Squires and Knights
____________ 1 - Give a persuasive one minute speech at a circle meeting about an activity you would like the circle to consider holding ____________ 2 - Recruit at least one new member ____________ 3 - Send a Mass card, sympathy note, flowers or other item to a fellow Squire or counselor upon the occasion of the death of a member of his family ____________ 4 - Join the Father McGivney Guild and pray for his canonization ____________ 5 - Depending on your eligibility, participate in one of the following K of C programs - Free Throw, Soccer Challenge, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Poster Contest or the Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest 7
____________ 6 - Assist your sponsoring council in fund raising for people who are intellectually challenged ____________ 7 - Attend or participate in a sporting event sponsored by your circle or sponsoring council/assembly ____________ 8 - Attend a religious or civic event in which a Fourth Degree Honor Guard participates ____________ 9 - Elective - _______________________________________________________ Community and Country
____________ *1 - Attend a public meeting of a local government agency ____________ *2 - Tour your town or city hall and meet the mayor, town manager, county commissioner or other public official ____________ *3 - Visit an historical site, battlefield or museum concerning the history of your country ____________ *4 - Visit and tour an agency that helps people with health issues such as AIDS or cancer or social problems such as alcoholism and drug abuse ____________ *5 - Demonstrate expertise in a sport by being a member of a team, league, club or course in which you earn a certificate, grade, letter, medal, trophy or other recognition ____________ *6 - Visit the Knights of Columbus Museum and St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, CT ____________ 7 - Participate in a circle service program in which you are responsible for leading or organizing a portion of that program ____________ 8 - Participate in a circle service program at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter ____________ 9 - Elective - _______________________________________________________ Church
__________ *1 - Receive the Sacrament of Confirmation ____________ *2 - Spend a holy hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament ____________ *3 - Be commissioned as a Eucharistic Minister, if allowed by the diocese and pastor ____________ *4 - Serve on a committee in your parish ____________ *5 - Memorize and recite the 20 mysteries of the four categories of the Rosary ____________ 6 - Give a 3-5 minute speech to your circle on the Catholic Church’s position on one of the following issues: war, the death penalty, abortion, euthanasia, bioethics, poverty, hunger, homelessness, health care, workers rights ____________ 7 - Show support for a seminarian by a visit or sending him a personal letter, card or care package, or by participating in a circle sponsored fund raiser to raise funds for an RSVP scholarship ____________ 8 - Participate in a recitation or reenactment of the Stations of the Cross with your circle or in your parish or school ____________ 9 - Elective - ______________________________________________________
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SQUIRE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST Qualifications Be a Squire for at least two years, accomplish 16 Squire of the Body of Christ achievements, four in each category. Achievements typed in bold face are required for that category. Certifications After completing an achievement, ask your counselor to put his initials and the date on the line next to each achievement, to indicate when the achievement was certified as completed. Achievements marked with an asterisk (*) may be certified by a parent’s/guardian’s initials and the date. Your counselor will also enter the certification dates into his copy of your Squire Advancement Record. If an elective is completed, write the name or a description of the elective activity on the line provided. Home and Family ____________ *1 - Read and review the section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the requirements and rules for the Sacrament of Marriage and discuss them with your parents, pastor, father prior or counselor ____________ *2 - Support, participate in or organize a pro-life program concerning the unborn, the disabled or the elderly ____________ *3 - Give support to a child or family through an aid agency ____________ *4 - Read a chapter in each of six books of the Bible and discuss each in a half hour Bible Study with a parent, or a circle or parish sponsored Bible study ____________ *5 - Use a home telescope or a telescope at a nearby college or observatory to view the moon, planets and stars ____________ *6 - Take a day or overnight trip with your family to a Catholic shrine ____________ *7 - Help your family organize and hold a family reunion ____________ *8 - Design and create a homepage for a website ____________ *9 - Elective - __________________________________________________ ____________*10 - Elective - __________________________________________________ Squires and Knights ____________ 1 - Recruit at least one new Squire ____________ 2 - Attend a meeting of another Squires circle ____________ 3 - Serve on a ceremonial team investing new members into another Squires circle ____________ 4 - Assist in the institution or reinstitution of a new Squires circle ____________ 5 - Serve as a mentor to a Squire to help him achieve the rank of “Page” or “Shield Bearer” ____________ 6 - Attend your jurisdiction’s state circle convention, if one is held in your jurisdiction ____________ 7 - Be elected or appointed to a state or local circle officer position, committee chairmanship, or ceremonial team member 9
____________ 8 - If you are 18 years old, become a Knight of Columbus ____________ 9 - Elective - _____________________________________________________ ____________ 10 - Elective - ____________________________________________________ Community and Country ____________ *1 - Travel to your state or provincial capital and visit key government offices, such as the executive and judicial branches, and, if in session, listen to the debate and parliamentary procedure and observe the voting of the legislature ____________ *2 - Attend a public hearing to speak for or against an issue being considered by a council, board, commission or other government agency ____________ *3 - Volunteer in a political campaign to work on behalf of a candidate you support ____________ *4 - Visit and tour a hospital for veterans, a military service academy or a military base that is open to visitors ____________ *5 - Work on a project with Habitat for Humanity, a Catholic work camp, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services or a similar construction, relief or development organization ____________ *6 - If you are 18 years old, register as a voter ____________ 7 - Invite your Congressman or Member of Parliament to speak to your circle or visit his/her office ____________ 8 - Ask your town councilman/county commissioner or other local official, or your state senator or state representative, or your Congressman or Member of Parliament, to introduce legislation recommended by your circle ____________ 9 - Elective - _____________________________________________________ ____________ 10 - Elective - ____________________________________________ Church __________ 1 - With your counselor’s approval, organize a service project to benefit your parish or another Catholic institution in your arch/diocese ____________ *2 - Attend a diocesan or national Catholic youth conference, or World Youth Day with the Pope ____________ *3 - Say a novena for a special intention ____________ *4 - Attend a day-long or overnight spiritual retreat with your circle, parish or school ____________ *5 - Serve as a religious education instructor or as an assistant to one ____________ *6 - Read a book or watch a movie/video/DVD about the Church’s Ecumenical Councils or other events in the history of the Catholic Church and discuss it with a counselor/parent ____________ 7 - Read a papal encyclical and give a 3-5 minute talk to the circle about what it says ____________ 8 - Christian Faith Study – study the basics of another Christian denomination or other religion and use a 3-5 minute talk to describe to the circle any similarities and differences in beliefs and practices as compared to the Catholic Church ____________ 9 - Elective - _____________________________________________________ ____________ 10 - Elective - _____________________________________________________ 10
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1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510-3326 1-203-752-4402 or www.kofc.org/squires
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