ACE Advocates News

Throughout Catholic Schools Week 2020, we'll be sharing some of our favorite Catholic Schools Week reflections that ACE graduates, team members, and friends have submitted over the years. The below reflection is from Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC and was originally published in 2011.

I discovered my vocation to be a priest in Catholic schools. Surely, the seed was planted by the diocesan priests and IHM sisters who taught me at St. Pius X Grade School in Broomall, PA, and the Augustinians who taught me at Malvern Prep. But it was while I stood on the other side of the desk, as a teacher, that these seeds took root and blossomed into a religious vocation. Though the details differ, many could tell a similar story….

Throughout Catholic Schools Week 2020, we'll be sharing some of our favorite Catholic Schools Week reflections that ACE graduates, team members, and friends have submitted over the years. The below reflection is from John Schoenig and was originally published in 2014.

Perhaps the most sacred promise we make as a republic is the one that every generation is invited to renew for the next: that we will do whatever it takes to ensure that every child, regardless of color, creed, or socioeconomic status, has equal access to an outstanding education. This promise is in many ways as confounding as it is inspiring – and it serves as the bedrock of our foundational aspiration to form a more perfect Union.

What is it, exactly, that sets Catholic schools apart and accounts for their excellence?

This is always an important question for leaders to consider in articulating and living the root beliefs and core values of their school communities. It seems especially relevant during Catholic Schools Week in the United States when students, parents, teachers, and principals across the country celebrate their schools with special activities, events, and recognitions. 

Throughout Catholic Schools Week 2020, we'll be sharing some of our favorite Catholic Schools Week reflections that ACE graduates, team members, and friends have submitted over the years. The below reflection is from Laura Reynolds and was originally published in 2012 when she was administrator at San Juan Diego Catholic School in Austin, Texas.

Pens need to be vertical. Every teacher knows that. When a student’s wrist goes limp and his pen falls to the desk, it’s trouble. It’s the sign of despair, the sign that the mental willpower to tackle a problem has been exhausted.

Throughout Catholic Schools Week 2020, we'll be sharing some of our favorite Catholic Schools Week reflections that ACE graduates, team members, and friends have submitted over the years. The below reflection is from Patrick Couch and was originally published in 2017. 

How do you survive without community? You can’t.

Well, at least I can’t.

My roommates are my lifeline. My sanity. And, most importantly, my JOY.