ACE Advocates News

In an address to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Bishop Gerald Kicanas reflects on the responsibility of Catholic universities to form laity for service to the world and the Church.  In doing so, he encourages Catholic colleges to redouble their contributions to Catholic K-12 schools, and thanks the Alliance for Catholic Education for, "sending an army of young teachers and administrators to work in poorer communities in many dioceses," and for the formation of Notre Dame ACE Academies in Tucson.

Bishop Kicanas' speech is an inspiring reminder that to be Catholic means accepting the call to spread the Gospel message with fidelity and vigor. The text is below.


Presentation to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting
Washington, DC
January 30, 2011

INTRODUCTION
Catholic colleges and universities matter much. Your work makes Christ's mission come alive and flourish. Through you the faith is handed on to others. My respect for you and what you do every day could not be greater.

I esteem the challenge you give your students to live not for themselves but for others, preparing them to contribute selflessly to their community. One of the core characteristics of a Catholic college or university identified by Pope John Paul II in Ex Corde Ecclesiae is "an instituional commitment to the service of the people of God and of the human family" (Ex Corde, 13,3) You live out this commitment in exceptional ways.

I value the scholarship of your faculties, women and men for whom being Catholic means a grand curiosity about life and a willingness to question and explore, always with the blessed assurance of revelation and Church teaching as guide.

I marvel at the countless ways you assist the Catholic community by your counsel and advice, by your involvement and generous sharing of your resources, by your fidelity to your Catholic identity in which you take such pride.

I once was who you are; I once was where you are.

by John O'Malley, Coordinator of ACE-Ireland

Every year, the ACE Advocate community in Dublin organizes a retreat for former ACE teachers. We feel that this helps to strengthen the fellowship between us and also gives us an opportunity to refocus on our mission as Catholic school teachers. This year, we took our first trip abroad, and spent four days in Rome in early January. Our group was led by Fr. John-Paul Sheridan, a priest of the Diocese of Ferns (in the south of Ireland) and a great friend of ACE.

By James Frabutt, Ph.D., and Anthony Holter, Ph.D., Remick Leadership Program.  Janine Bempechat and colleagues explored beliefs about academic achievement among a sample of low-income, urban adolescents enrolled in Catholic schools.  Their 2008 article, Beyond the Rhetoric: Understanding Achievement and Motivation in Catholic School Students, describes a longitudinal project in which students were interviewed in depth about the role of education in their lives, their teachers’ goals for them, and family and peer support for learning.  Qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups with the students revealed three major themes, outlined below.

1. A Culture of Caring Pervades Catholic Schools.  Students routinely mentioned the caring and family oriented environment of their school, noting that teachers were interested not only in students’ academic success, but their emotional and social well-being as well.  One student explained: “It’s like they care for you so much at this school, they make sure they don’t want nobody, you know, to fall down in their grades and fail and not be able to, you know, reach their goals in life” (p. 171). 
2. Students Believe They Must Take Personal Responsibility for Learning. Students explained that goal setting, consistent effort, and persistence were the drivers of academic performance.  When their academic achievement was poor, students tended to attribute this to internal factors (e.g., “I wasn’t careful in my work”) rather than external ones (e.g., “That teacher doesn’t like me”). One female student clarified, “I mostly think that effort is something that you put in, and it shows if you have effort, it shows if you don’t have effort” (p. 172).
3. Adaptive Achievement Beliefs Pervade Catholic Schools.  Students explained that “mistakes and setbacks are a natural part of learning.”  When a student encounters an instance of academic failure, it need not be debilitating and lead to feelings of helplessness. In dealing with the academic challenges of high school, one student said “failure is not really something bad; I would try my hardest to do it again” (p. 173-174).

 
The authors summarized that “when given the opportunity to express their views, these Catholic school students focused on their teachers’ commitment to them as learners and articulated mature and sophisticated views about their learning” (p.174).  They further concluded that a better understanding of Catholic school students’ apparent motivational advantage can enhance educational reform efforts more broadly.
 
 
Reference
 
Bempechat, J., Boulay, B. A., Piergross, S. C., & Wenk, K. A. (2008). Beyond the rhetoric: Understanding achievement and motivation in Catholic school students. Education and Urban Society, 40(2), 167-178.

From ACE Advocate Regional Chair Gary Asher. 

January, 2011.  The day began by participating in the regular Saturday morning parish Mass, which was well attended and provided a spiritual beginning to the day.  The priest was very welcoming and asked us to tell the congregation a bit about who we are and what our mission is. So the Mass also provided an opportunity to get the word out about ACE Advocates.

The service to Holy Spirit school was very successful. Originally we were to paint only the school's computer lab. But as the school and parish communities heard about the project, they became very excited about helping us.  The event blossomed into a group of parishioners (including professional painters) joining forces. 

As a result the school was able to get all the classrooms in the primary building painted. The success was not in what we, members of ACE Advocates, were able to physically accomplish but how we as a movement were able to inspire others to join in service to the school. 

From the Tucson Values Teachers Initiative

Congratulations to Fran Fritton, third grade teacher at St. Ambrose Catholic School, a Notre Dame Ace Academy, who is the Tucson Values Teachers December recipient of the Teacher Excellence Award!  She was nominated by Jan Knox, a former colleague at St. Ambrose.

Hats off to to Principal Martha Taylor who pulled together a tribute  that included the entire school - and a sign of color and congratulations for Fran.

Fran was also featured on the KVOA Teacher Feature segment in an interview with Martha Vazquez.  The feature was created just for the Teacher Excellence Award program. 

Congratulations, Fran!  One could see immediately from the faces in her third-grade classroom that Fran is adored.  She is one great teacher - a consensus also shared by her colleagues and administrators.

To learn more about the Tucson Values Teachers Initiative, click here.