(Feb. 11-12)
ACE in the City:
The Big Easy is home to cajun food, jazz music, and enormous Mardi Gras festivities, and since 2007, it is also home to ACE’s Teaching Fellows and a chapter of ACE Advocates. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans schools lost more than facilities and supplies--they lost teachers. The diocese reached out to ACE whose enthusiastic response to the call for educators has allowed many of the parish schools to remain open despite tremendous setbacks.
The current associate director of ACE Advocates, Garrett Mandeville, was one of the first few ACE teachers in New Orleans, teaching fourth and fifth graders.
Today, seven ACE teachers currently serve five schools in the diocese: Academy of Our Lady, Archbishop Shaw High School, Resurrection of Our Lord Elementary School, St. Joan of Arc Catholic School, and Our Lady-Prompt Succor School.
Where We’ll Be:
Wednesday, February 12
9:00 a.m. CST — School visit to Our Lady-Prompt Succor School
- Archbishop Aymond to receive the University of Notre Dame Sorin Award for Service to Catholic Schools
- Eric Lewis to receive the University of Notre Dame Champion of Education Award
531 Avenue A — Westwego, LA 70094
Award Recipients:
The University of Notre Dame Sorin Award for Service to Catholic Schools
Archbishop Gregory Aymond has served as the head of the Diocese of New Orleans for nearly five years, having previously served as Bishop of Austin and Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans. Born and raised in the city, Archbishop Aymond holds the unique distinction of being the first New Orleans native to serve as Archbishop of New Orleans in the 216-year history of the local church. He attended its Catholic schools, St. James Major Elementary School and Cor Jesu High School before entering St. Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary. After being installed as Archbishop of New Orleans in August of 2009, Archbishop Aymond has served as the chair of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People and sits on the Committees for Campus Ministry, Education, Laity, and World Missions. Archbishop Aymond also served as the executive director of the archdiocesan Department of Christian Formation, with responsibility for Catholic schools and religious education, and as the archdiocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
The University of Notre Dame Champion of Education Award
A native of Baton Rouge and State Director for BAEO's mobilization initiative in Louisiana, LaBAEO, Eric Lewis has championed education reform efforts such as parental choice and education voucher programs in his home state. As the leader of LaBAEO, Lewis has helped empower working class Black families to choose high quality education options that will enable them to pursue paths of higher education and produce economically independent adults. He is responsible for building statewide support for expanding high-quality education options for low-income Black children. Lewis is currently Board President of the Baton Rouge Black Chamber of Commerce and a deacon at the Way of Holiness Ministries in Jackson and Baton Rouge. He has also served on the Dean's Advisory Council for LSU's E.J. Ourso College of Business, the Advisory Board of the YWCA, the Advisory Board of Desire Street Academy and the boards of Riz-Up Louisiana, Forum 35 and the Baton Rouge Branch of the NAACP.