Each Totus Tuus team consists of two men and two women. The teachers are chosen based upon their commitment to the Catholic faith, desire to teach the faith, love of children, energy and enthusiasm, and leadership abilities.

In order to run a week of Totus Tuus smoothly, the teachers adhere to a well-defined schedule which has as its foundation and backbone a structured prayer life.

The daily schedule—as pertains to the grade school program during the day and the twilight retreats for the older youth in the evenings—has already been discussed. This section will lay out the rest of the team’s day and the larger weekly schedule.

Arrival/Setup

The team arrives on the Saturday afternoon or evening prior to the week of teaching.

Please inform the team leader if members of the team will be speaking at the Masses that weekend. Speaking at Mass is an excellent opportunity to publicize the coming week with a brief presentation about Totus Tuus. Often this presentation will help bring in more youth to participate in the week’s program.

The team should meet with the parish contact and pastor (if available) for a formal meeting and touring of the facilities on Saturday evening. The team will set up the facilities on Sunday afternoon. Due to the early morning and late night scheduling of events, some parishes have found it convenient to provide the team leader with a key to the facilities. If you choose not to do this, then please make sure the team leader is aware of who will have facility keys for the week.

Host Families

Because the teachers are “out on the road” we ask that the parishes find host families to provide sleeping arrangements, a morning continental breakfast, and possibly snacks to refuel. The team needs two "host homes," one for the men and one for the women. Men and women are to be housed separately. It is easier for the team and the parish if the host homes are close to each other and to the parish, but the team will be grateful for any housing.

The interaction at host homes is valuable for both the teachers and the families. However, because of the team’s schedule, it is important to stress that occasionally the teachers may be late getting home due to team meetings. Also, teachers may not always be present at the host families’ homes in the afternoons due to planning and setup.

Housing of team members takes place from their arrival Saturday afternoon/evening until their departure the following Friday evening or Saturday morning. Each team will provide their own transportation to and from the parish. It is helpful to give the team driver a detailed description or map to the location of the families who will be hosting the team, as well as those who will be providing the evening meals.

Meals

Plan to provide all of the team’s meals while the team is in your parish; depending on the specifics of the week’s schedule at your parish, the team may not require dinner at a host family’s every night.

The host family provides a continental style breakfast at 7:00 a.m. Breakfast need not be anything fancy or requiring effort; cereal, fruit, or toast is sufficient.

Lunch for Saturday (if the team has arrived) and Sunday can be at the host families’ homes. Please ask the host families not to plan any activities for the team on Sunday after Mass and/or lunch. This is “team time” and needs to be protected. The teams keep a demanding schedule each week for eight weeks. Like all of us, they require “down time.” Honoring God’s commandment to keep holy the Sabbath, Sunday afternoon is their time for rest, recreation, team fellowship, and time to prepare for the coming week.

Lunch for Monday through Friday should be provided by a parish family or the parish at 12:15 p.m. Volunteers assisting in the kitchen can prepare the lunch or the team can fix sandwiches from food brought in. Buffet style works best, and whoever is providing the meal may want to bring extra food for the volunteers, priest, etc.

Supper on Saturday should be scheduled for as early after Mass as possible. It would be ideal if the parish coordinator could host dinner on Saturday evening, as that would give everyone a chance to meet. If this is not possible, please find a family who can have them for dinner.

Supper on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday should be provided at 5:30 p.m. Please arrange for families in the parish to host the team for supper. This allows for more families to be involved in hosting the team and provides an excellent opportunity for the team to interact with families of the parish. A family may prepare and serve the meal, have food brought in, or take the team out to eat.

Since the team is on a tight schedule, please do not schedule supper any earlier or later than 5:30 p.m. unless the team leader is notified. The team will leave the family’s home no later than 7:00 p.m. to return to the parish for the evening program.

The team will not need supper on Wednesday if the parish is hosting the potluck. If there will not be a potluck, please find someone to host the team for supper at 5:30 p.m. If the potluck will be on another evening, please plan accordingly.

The team will not need supper on Thursday if their evening social with the junior high and senior high school youth involves a meal. If no meal is planned within the Thursday night activity, please find someone to host the team for supper at 5:30 p.m.

The need for supper on Friday should be determined when the team leader calls the parish contact during the week before the program.