ACE Advocates News

Dr. Patrick Manning emphasizes the importance of capturing the imagination as a way to draw individuals in as learners.

“We live more from our hearts and our imaginations than we do from our minds, so if we want to draw people into something, we can’t just give them information,” he said. “Once someone is invested, they’re going to want to learn more, but the way to start teaching is by giving people a glimpse.”

As teachers and school leaders face these days of darkness, the Alliance for Catholic Education invites you to join us as we walk toward the light that our faith tells us lies ahead.

Each Monday, join us for Grace Period, a weekly series of audio reflections by Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC, designed to meet your busy schedule as teachers and educators and help you pause, listen for God’s voice in your life, and begin anew.

And each day, we invite you to pray Anchor Point, a daily prayer to proclaim God’s love to begin the day and proclaim God’s faithfulness as the day draws to a close.

We pray that each of you find grace in each day, and we thank you for all you do for Catholic schools.

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Dr. Rachel Moreno—our beloved colleague who supervised hundreds of ACE teachers over the years and also worked with the English as a New Language program—after a bout with pancreatic cancer.

She was a dear friend to many and has always been a model of Christian love and care for others. Rachel spent her life teaching, caring, and whole-heartedly loving others, and we were all blessed by her example.

The following piece was written by Danielle M. Gonzales—a member of ACE 8 who served in Brownsville, Texas—and was originally posted on Medium.com.

“Flexibility is really key. That's an ACE one too, right?” asks Tiffany. “They often say, ‘always changing everything,’ but they really mean being very flexible with changing circumstances.”

The current changing circumstances of a worldwide pandemic prompted a paradigm shift in how the world approaches education. The increased emphasis on virtual learning demands leadership and innovation. Dr. Tiffany Roman (ACE 9, Dallas), a researcher and educator who has long studied learning habits and classroom instruction, stands ready for the challenge. “This time period, for better or for worse, will require us as educators to seek out new resources or identify resources that we never knew existed,” she says.

Photo Credit: Cristo Rey New York High School

ACE Teachers past and present can appreciate the pressures of preparing engaging lesson plans for their students on a day-in, day-out basis. It’s a tall task.

And in an age when a Google search for “teacher resources” can return millions of results within seconds, which tools can actually provide value to teachers and their students can be difficult to parse out.

ACE graduates Mary Grace Mangano and Amanda Pertierra recently shared their successes using resources from Facing History and Ourselves, which have opened up pathways for deep conversations and connections among their high-school students. Earlier this year, the duo secured an In-Depth Program Grant from the organization—valued at more than $10,000—for their students and fellow teachers at Cristo Rey New York High School.