GDK Program
The Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge program at Detroit Catholic Central High School is designed to help our students learn important life lessons alongside the academic knowledge they gain in the classroom. Supplementing social and service opportunities are regular small-group meetings with their homeroom to focus on grade-level topics meant to build upon each other over four years.
Parents are able to access videos featuring Catholic Central students, staff, and alumni below, and we have also included some of the discussions topics used in the classroom to allow you to further engage with your son.
GDK Video Series
Freshmen
The 9th grade level of the program is built upon exploring "Character." These students are new to high school, and new to Catholic Central, and this topic allows us to establish a baseline of what is expected of men of Mary, Alma Mater.
- September - Introduction to Character
- October - Success & Failure
- November - Honor/Respect
- December - Stress
- January - Words and Integrity
- March - Emotions
- April - Social Media
- May - Gratitude
September - Introduction to Character
- One Big Idea: Your character is the real you - and what you choose to stand for and value.
- Discussion Questions:
- What are values that are most important to you?
- How do you demonstrate your values? How do values relate to character?
- What do you think are the most important values for a CC man?
- Self-reflection: What are my values? Do I demonstrate those values in my actions? What new value(s) do I need most to grow in as a CC man?
October - Success & Failure
November - Honor/Respect
December - Stress
January - Words and Integrity
March - Emotions
April - Social Media
May - Gratitude
Sophomore
The 10th grade level of the program is built upon exploring "Service," expanding on the Character we want our students to develop as 9th graders.
- September - Intro to Service
- October - Focus Others
- November - Self-Knowledge
- December - Priorities
- January - Relationships
- March - Social Justice
- April - Friendship
- May - Resilience
September - Intro to Service
- Topic: Introduction to Service
- One Big Idea: Character means taking responsibility for ourselves and for the people around us; “giving back” and contributing to our school, families, and beyond.
- Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the difference between Formal and Informal Volunteering
- Beyond projects that count for service hours, what are ways that you can serve your family? Your teachers and classmates? Your coaches and teammates?
- What strengths or passions do you have that can contribute to CC or beyond CC?
- Write down 3 strengths you have that can be useful to give back.
- Who do you know who has contributed to your community outside of school required hours? Give examples: practical service, personal, spiritual, emotional service
October - Focus Others
November - Self-Knowledge
December - Priorities
January - Relationships
March - Social Justice
April - Friendship
May - Resilience
Junior
11th grade students at Catholic Central will discuss the topic of "Influence" as young men, and how they are able to have a tremendous impact on our school and greater community.
- September - Intro to Influence
- October - How We Grow
- November - Culture
- December - College & Career
- January - Conflict
- March - Family
- April - Addiction
- May - Work
September - Intro to Influence
- Topic: Introduction to Influence
- One Big Idea: The job of the juniors is to serve our school by influencing our culture and individual brothers for the better.
- Discussion Questions
- What is an issue affecting Catholic Central and our school culture that you think needs to change? What can you do personally about it?
- What is something you have done recently to help someone?
- What is something you can do to become a more active member of our school, your classes, or your teams or clubs?
- How can you positively impact the culture in your classrooms? On your teams?
October - How We Grow
November - Culture
December - College & Career
January - Conflict
March - Family
April - Addiction
May - Work
Senior
The 12th grade students at Catholic Central are being prepared to go out into the real world and make a difference. The 4th and final year of the GDK program is designed to explore the concept of "Leadership" and to help our students grown into the leaders they are meant to be.
- September - Intro to Leadership
- October - Senior Leaders
- November - Mentoring
- December - Personality
- January - Sacrifice
- March - The Past
- April - College & Beyond
September - Intro to Leadership
- Topic: Introduction to Leadership
- One Big Idea: Seniors serve Catholic Central by being men of character who influence and invest in their younger brothers
- Discussion Questions:
- If you’re being honest, on a scale of one to ten, where would you rank Catholic Central as a whole in terms of dedication to achieving results?
- From one to ten, where are we in terms of valuing people and relationships?
- Combining these two values, which one of the Eight Cultures would match us? Do you think that’s an accurate description of CC? What parts are accurate? Do we have different parts of the Eight Cultures at work in our school? Which ones?
How would you rate your individual classes? Your teams? Your clubs? - What good things are helping our school, individual classes, teams, and clubs, what helps our teams to prioritize both achievement and relationships? How can we continue in those good attributes?
- What things are causing us to experience disruption to our focus on achievement and value on relationships? How can we grow past those obstacles toward a Championship Culture — in our school. classes, clubs, and teams?