ACE in the City
Philadelphia holds a special place in the heart of Fr. Lou DelFra, Spiritual Director of ACE, as it was where he himself served as a middle school and high school teacher immediately prior to his ordination in 2004.
Today, Philadelphia Advocates for Catholic Education (PHACE) strive to support Alliance for Catholic Education at St. Joseph’s University (ACESJU), a partnership between St. Joseph’s University and the University of Notre Dame to replicate ACE’s Teaching Fellows program. Students receive a M.Ed. from SJU after two years of teaching in under-resourced Catholic schools in the Philadelphia area.
Just across the Delaware River, Camden, NJ, is also home to ACE initiatives, including the ACE Collaborative for Academic Excellence (ACAE). ACAE is a sustained professional development program, providing a framework to strengthen curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Catholic schools.
ACE Teaching Fellows graduate Dr. William A. Watson also currently serves the Diocese of Camden as director of curriculum and assessment in the Catholic Schools Office.
Where We’ll Be
Tuesday, November 12
10:30 a.m. - Visit to St. Francis de Sales School
917 S. 47th Street - Philadelphia, PA 19143
Award Recipients
The University of Notre Dame Sorin Award for Service to Catholic Schools
Christine Healey is the Executive Director at the Healey Foundation which invests in the sustainability and growth of Catholic schools. The Foundation has been expanded to serve numerous elementary and high schools across three dioceses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Christine also chairs the board of the Catholic Partnership Schools and is co-founder of the “We Can Do Better New Jersey” advocate group for school choice throughout Philadelphia. Christine holds an M.S. in gerontology from Saint Joseph’s University and a B.S. in nursing from Georgetown University.
The University of Notre Dame Champion for Education Award
Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, Harris Wofford is a champion of service to our country. Wofford served as Peace Corps Associate Director during its formative years in the 1960s, as well as the chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service (the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other domestic volunteer programs), from 1995 to 2001.
For the past two decades ACE has been privileged to share a partnership with AmeriCorps, and in the last year alone, ACE AmeriCorps members led 8,922 non-AmeriCorps member volunteers in AmeriCorps service activities, served 13,576 disadvantaged children and youth, and engaged 3,337 disadvantaged children and youth as volunteers.
In recent years, Wofford has been chair and then co-chair of the America’s Promise Alliance, a foundation founded by Colin Powell in 1997 to help children and youth from all socioeconomic sectors in the United States.