Cassondra Dragone wasn’t looking for a job — until she found one that aligned perfectly with her personal values.
She’s the new coordinator of chastity education for the Catholic Diocese of Erie, a position where she pulls from her own experiences with natural family planning, a method for tracking a woman’s ovulation.
Although her title of “chastity” may refer to teaching celibacy, Dragone said her position focuses more on helping others learn to love themselves and understanding how their bodies are unique.
“This was my calling and I felt this was the role I needed to fill,” she said. “I didn’t know I was ready to go back to work but I was definitely drawn to this position.”
Before taking on the role in October, Dragone was a stay-at-home-mom. Before that, she had worked as a fraud analyst.
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As the coordinator of chastity education, Dragone said her purpose is to help the people in northwestern Pennsylvania learn to love in a way that’s free, total, selfless and doesn’t use the other person.
“It was something we (her family) believed in and I wanted to spread the word to my friends, and when I saw the role had natural family planning worked in, I felt like I could relate to people and help them in this position,” she said.
Developing the coordinator of chastity education role
The role originally started as the natural family planning coordinator, said Kate Wilson, director for marriage and family life for the Diocese. Wilson held the position before Dragone.
Natural family planning is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid conception. These methods are based on the observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle.
When natural family planning is used correctly and consistently, it may reach rates of effectiveness around 90%, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Natural family planning methods do not protect against sexually transmitted infections or human immunodeficiency disease.
“There was a specific office in the Diocese designed to help families plan their families this way and support the emotional and relational sides of their marriage,” Wilson said. “But then we realized, sexuality is a hard thing to integrate in a way that really loves and honors the other person, so the perspective kind of expanded into all of chastity.”
Creating a chastity education curriculum
Dragone helps create a chastity education curriculum that’s taught to kindergarteners through eighth grade in more than 30 Diocesan schools. While she doesn’t visit the schools herself, she helps train the teachers who present the curriculum.
Dragone said children are taught about how God made them and how every body is unique. Discussions revolve around self-love and accepting themselves.
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As the children get older, the teachings shift to conversations about relationships with others and how our bodies express who we are, which sets the foundations for the conversations about sexuality, Wilson said.
“We don’t talk about the intimate nature of sexuality at any point,” Wilson said. “That’s a parent’s role, and we can equip the parents to have those conversations, but that’s not our role with students.”
The curriculum itself covers God’s plan for sexuality after marriage and the beauty of married love, Dragone said.
“In the older middle school grades, we teach God created sex for a purpose and that it’s a beautiful gift reserved for marriage,” Dragone said.
Most of the curriculum comes from the Theology of the Body teachings from Ascension Press. Wilson said those standards are integrated in the schools’ religion classrooms.
“Theology of the body is a catch-all phrase to encapsulate the understanding of, ‘I as a person am created by God and the way I interact with other people conveys who I am inside,'” Wilson said.
Dragone said her focus on the role hasn’t involved developing the curriculum yet, but she hopes she can expand on it next year.
“We have the cookie-cutter curriculum, but I’m looking to add some new resources to help aid and adapt it, and I’ve just started that research process,” she said.
Helping others on a relatable level
Dragone’s role doesn’t only focus on children.
Dragone also works with adults who follow natural family planning methods. She writes a quarterly newsletter detailing natural family planning resources, as well.
“What Cassondra does by keeping that newsletter up-to-date gives new information about this new (natural family planning) method, or this method isn’t working for you, so you can look at this method over here,” Wilson said. “She also provides a couple prayer resources, Advent resources that help support the whole marriage.”
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Dragone’s role also involves planning the Diocese’s spring and fall retreats, as well as mother-daughter and father-son events.
Wilson said Dragone’s ability to relay the message of chastity education was one of the reasons why she was chosen for the role.
“One of the things that the interview committee really noticed about Cassondra was that she really cares on a personal level about the message,” Wilson said. “But also she has the ability to speak to people who didn’t grow up hearing it. Cassondra has the ability to make friends with a big swath of folks … so it’s been a real joy to work with her. I’m so happy she’s on board.”
Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or bdemuth@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.
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