ACE Teaching Fellows

The University of Notre Dame will advance its role as the nation’s leading provider of Catholic school leaders on Saturday, July 13, when more than 110 graduates from the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) receive master’s degrees at the 2013 ACE Commencement exercises.

The Commencement, to be held in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, is an important milestone for the teachers, principals, and leaders of the ACE ACE Teaching Fellows and the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Programs who have spent the last two and three years respectively living out ACE’s mission to sustain, strengthen and transform Catholic schools while completing their coursework within ACE’s innovative instructional models.

Master of Education (M. Ed.) degrees will be conferred upon 85 graduates within the 18^th cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows, which sends forth young teachers to serve in under-resourced Catholic schools in 26 dioceses across the country. The Remick Leadership Program, an initiative that prepares Catholic school educators for roles as principals and other leadership roles in Catholic schools, will award 26 graduates in cohort 10 with Master of Arts degrees in educational administration.

The keynote speaker for this year’s exercises will be Senator Joe Donnelly, United States Senator of Indiana and Notre Dame alumnus.

Representing the University of Notre Dame will be Christine Maziar, Ph.D., who is Vice President, Senior Associate Provost, and Acting Dean of the Graduate School. Also addressing the group of graduates, parents, and friends of the Alliance for Catholic Education will be ACE’s founder, Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C., director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame.

The Commencement ceremonies, a ticketed event scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., will also feature the presentation of awards for distinguished service in support of Catholic schools. The Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education and the Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field annually go to outstanding ACE graduates who have continued their careers enhancing ACE’s mission.

The Pressley awards are named for the prodigious and world-renowned scholar Michael Pressley, who served as the inaugural academic director of ACE’s teacher preparation program.

At the Commencement luncheon, Father Scully will present the Maureen T. Hallinan Award for Excellence in Catholic Education to Katie Baal, a graduate from the first cohort of ACE teachers, who assembled at the initiative’s founding almost 20 years ago. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies at Loyola University Chicago and pursued a distinguished career as a science teacher and administrator in Jesuit and public education. Dr. Baal has been principal of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., since 2011.

ACE presents the Hallinan Award for Excellence in Catholic Education in honor of Dr. Maureen Hallinan, the founding director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives, a world-renowned scholar and deeply beloved colleague who continues to inspire with her love of learning and truth. The annual award is bestowed in her honor upon an ACE graduate whose life and work reflect Dr. Hallinan's lifetime of service to the Gospel through the field of Catholic education.

The public events of ACE’s Commencement day will conclude with a Mass in Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart at 6:30 pm.

Watch the live stream at http://ace.nd.edu/livestream

The Year of Faith is a celebration of our calling to follow Christ and how we can come to know Jesus in our commitment to the ACE community and Catholic schools. Our prayer is that we can learn to find Jesus in the ordinary and routine things of our lives. ACE Teaching Fellows calls men and women to live a simple life as teachers in Catholic Schools.

Let us reflect on John 13: 1 – 15. This is where Jesus is at his best as a teacher because he has come together with his disciples at the Last Supper to share the Paschal Meal. He washes their feet and then says to them:

“You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”

This passage is read at Mass on Holy Thursday. Jesus, the teacher, teaches a powerful lesson by what he does for the disciples. There are a few words used to get the lesson across, but the most important part is what he does. Jesus shows us love through service.

There are countless stories that teachers can tell about great lessons that they have presented in the classroom and how that is what can keep them motivated to teach well. It is that day when everything goes well and the students respond and are excited about learning. Those are extraordinary days, and a teacher feels good about what has happened. It would be nice if that happened every day, but teaching has its ups and downs because of a variety of things that can be going on in the life of the teacher as well as students.

An ACE teacher finished his first summer of studies and then went to his assignment of teaching third grade. He was excited and so happy to have his class and teach them and help them learn. He felt God was calling him to be a teacher, and he was encouraged by the feedback he had received during the summer. He began teaching and quickly discovered that he had a disruptive student. The disruptions went on day after day, and he began to think it would be a long and discouraging year of teaching. He began to think that teaching was not his calling in life.

I was able to observe this teacher and the troublesome student early in the year, and I tried to help the teacher see that it was not through any flaws in his teaching that the student was out of control. I encouraged him to see that all he could do was be Christ the Teacher and love the student and be patient and kind. The lesson was to be shown by the teacher’s actions rather than strong and harsh words. Hold him accountable, but do it lovingly.

I visited the teacher’s classroom several months later. I saw the same student was cooperative and willing to learn—and even sitting at his desk most of the time. There were moments when he was not great, but the improvement was inspiring. The teacher knew that the student had made great strides, but he did not realize the amazing difference until his mentor and other observers—and the student’s parents—told him how this student was beginning to like school.

The teacher had been encouraged by his principal and faculty, his ACE local community, and the ACE faculty and staff. There were many people who affirmed him as the year progressed. But he was also helped through reading and reflecting on the example of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Jesus teaches us to wash each other’s feet. This may not change the behavior of the students, but it will make a difference in the life of the teacher as he or she becomes Christ the Teacher.

The ACE Commencement exercises scheduled for Saturday, July 13, 2013, will confer master’s degrees upon participants in ACE Teaching Fellows and the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, but the event also honors graduates of those programs who have continued their careers with excellence in the spirit of the ACE pillars of education, community, and spirituality.

Awards this year will go to three leaders who have played influential roles that support Catholic schooling.

The annual Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education will be presented to two past graduates of ACE formation programs: Jessica Gray Werner, Ph.D., who graduated in 2003 in the eighth cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows; and Michael Zelenka, who also was in “ACE 8” and also in the sixth cohort of the Remick Leadership Program, graduating in 2007.

David Yeager, Ph.D., who graduated from ACE Teaching Fellows in 2006 and is now assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, will receive the Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field.

The three Pressley Awards are named for the prodigious and world-renowned scholar Michael Pressley who served as the inaugural academic director of ACE’s teacher preparation program.

Here is more information about the recipients:

JESSICA GRAY WERNER

Jessica served students in Jackson, Miss., as a teacher for three years during and after ACE. Then she began working with the Daughters of Charity, supporting their efforts to strengthen Catholic educational ministry in Ethiopia and Kenya, and later became director of the Vincentian Lay Missionaries. This work entails providing spiritual formation for the current volunteers in the Daughters of Charity programs in Africa.

Meanwhile, Jessica has also earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, with a dissertation focused on principal and teacher training in Uganda, and she teaches education as an adjunct professor at the College of Saint Scholastica. A nominator calls her “a stellar example of an ACE graduate whose life has been transformed by Catholic education and social justice.” Jessica demonstrates a passionate belief in “the power of education” to change lives and “the unique gifts that the Catholic Church can offer” to transform structures and reform education.

MICHAEL ZELENKA

Michael has continued to pursue his vocation in Catholic education as an educator in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he was assigned in the ACE 8 cohort. He now serves as principal at Incarnation Catholic School, which is also an ACE Teaching Fellows site. One of his nominators states, “We need more principals like him helping to form our teachers,” and he adds that Michael has “distinguished himself as a young and vibrant leader of Catholic schools, committed to excellence in every respect.”

In addition to his outstanding work as principal, Michael plays a variety of diocesan leadership roles and stays engaged with other Alliance for Catholic Education initiatives. He has implemented several projects at the school and diocesan level, published some of his work, and presented at national conferences. “He is an excellent example of the next generation of leaders we are aiming to prepare, support, and celebrate,” nominators affirm.

DAVID YEAGER

David’s nationally respected research in the fields of adolescent development and social psychology led him recently to the role of co-organizer and program chair for a special White House conference titled “Excellence in Education: The Importance of Academic Mindsets.” As reported recently for ACE by Andrew Hoyt, scholars from around the country gathered at the May conference to discuss new insights emerging from the work of David and collaborators at Stanford University. New findings suggest that students’ mindsets—how schools look and feel to these students—can affect whether they sustain motivation in the face of adversity. David and others have designed activities that redirect students’ mindsets and can dramatically reduce achievement gaps in some cases.

With a Ph.D. in developmental and psychological science from Stanford University, David has pursued studies yielding numerous journal publications, research grants, conference presentations, and other honors. During his studies in the ACE Teaching Fellows program, he taught language arts and computers--and coached basketball--at a Catholic school in Tulsa, Okla.

Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) sends talented young teachers to serve children in under-resourced Catholic schools around the country, and these caring educators pursue many initiatives during their formation.

At conferences and at the local, state, and even national levels, ACE Teaching Fellows participants are being recognized for their outstanding work in (and out of) the classroom and the gifts they bring to a school and community.

Below we celebrate some of the accomplishments of our ACE 18 graduates:

Dominic Fanelli received two outstanding awards during his time teaching middle school math at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Baton Rouge. In the spring of 2013, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany for the upcoming year. Additionally, Dominic was honored by his faculty in receiving the Brotherhood Award. Voted on by the teachers, the recipient is someone who treats others with respect, exhibits integrity, and is involved in the community. “This was an honor for me to receive and a highlight of my two years at Sacred Heart,” said Fanelli.

Maura Shea, who served as a high school English teacher at Ascension Catholic in Plaquemine, LA, was voted High School Teacher of the Year for the Parochial Schools in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The award is sponsored annually by the Knights of Columbus.

Students of Meghan McDermott, at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School in Corpus Christi, Texas, voted her into the ranks of Teacher of the Week. That honor is bestowed regularly by a local radio station, 96.5 FM. “The radio DJ surprised me in my classroom, and they announced my name on the radio all week,” recalls McDermott regarding the salute she received in March 2013. “It was a very exciting event for the whole school, and all the kids loved hearing Bishop Garriga’s name announced throughout the week.”

Meaghan Crowley, ACE Denver, and Kevin Kimberly, ACE Memphis, were each awarded the Charles Redd Center K-12 Teaching Western History Award. This award is given for innovative lesson planning and teaching of lessons related to the American West. Meaghan and Kevin presented their award-winning lesson plans at the Western History Association conference held in Denver. Brent Modak, ACE Denver, in collaboration with the Library of Congress, also presented at this conference on the importance and implementation of primary sources in education.

Ann Marie Ferry, ACE Mission, presented a lesson at the 60^th Annual Texas Conference for the Social Studies. She created a lesson in which students “examine the role of the Texas economy in the world.” Ferry, who taught middle school social studies and religion at St. Joseph School in Mission, Texas, explained that the lesson entailed “differentiated instruction, as well as extending and refining previous knowledge of the causal relationship between the geography of place and economic activity.”

In conjunction with ACE faculty member Lori Crawford-Dixon and ACE graduates Tara Carey, Jeannine DiCarlantonio, and Ann Ferrello, ACE Atlanta teacher Michele Monk presented at the Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. The group spoke on “K-5 Curriculum and Resources: An Adaptable Model for Instruction.” The presentation aimed to give K-5 foreign language teachers a set of units based on key themes, with accompanying course outcomes, a sample lesson plan and course calendar, and other resources.

Desiree Jerez was invited in May to make a presentation as part of Oklahoma City Archdiocesan Professionals Day. A teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Oklahoma City, Jerez introduced fellow educators to classroom management techniques found in books by Rick Morris and Doug Lemov. Her talk was titled “Quick, Easy, and Simple Changes that Increase Instruction Time.”

We congratulate these and all members of ACE 18 who will participate in ACE’s annual Commencement exercises on July 13, 2013 at the University of Notre Dame.

The year of faith is a celebration of our calling to follow Christ and how we can come to know Jesus in our commitment to the ACE community and Catholic Schools. Our prayer is that we can learn to find Jesus in the ordinary and routine things of our lives.

One of the first places a visitor sees on the Notre Dame campus is the Eck Visitors Center. A statue of St. André Bessette stands there as if to show that everyone is welcome. St. André was a Holy Cross Brother who lived a simple life as a doorkeeper at a school in Montreal. His superiors assigned him to this duty because he had not had much education; they thought doorkeeping was all he could do. He graciously accepted this as a ministry of telling people that God loved them.

This was the message of good news that everyone needed to hear. We continue to need this message in our lives. St. André proclaimed it by his welcome, patience, non-judgmental attitude, and loving acceptance of every person. He loved everyone like Christ. There were so many people who came to see him that the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal was built; the visitors wanted to be in the presence, and hear the message of, this holy man who became a saint.

We can learn much about living our faith and knowing Jesus if we read stories of the lives of saints. St. André reflected Jesus through hospitality. Hospitality and loving students is what a teacher can teach every day. This leads young people to Jesus.   Here are two stories that illustrate the point of how hospitality can lead someone to know they are loved and discover Christ.

An ACE teacher was teaching one morning, and, after a while, a little fourth grader came up to her and hugged her. The child whispered to her, “My mother was dead when I went into her bedroom this morning.” The teacher was shocked and could not think of a word to say, so she did what was natural. She hugged the little girl, told her she loved her, and walked her to the principal’s office.

Another ACE teacher had a boy in her second class who was very disruptive. She went home every day and felt that she was failing the student as well as all his classmates. She thought this was her cross to carry. Part of her teaching was to prepare her students to make their First Communion. The mother of the problem student gave the teacher a letter on the day of the First Communion that read, “Thank you for loving my son. He loves you and appreciates you very much. He is excited to be united with Jesus in Communion.”

Both of these teachers, in the ordinary events of teaching days, did extraordinary things for their students. They were trying to be Christ the Teacher for their students. To do this, they had to know Jesus, act like him, and love the students. A way to do this is to be hospitable and provide a welcoming atmosphere for students. Jesus opened his heart and loved everyone. Hospitality helps a teacher to do the same. Students are in the process of learning; but as young as they are, they know what love looks like. The little girl whose mother died could go to her teacher and feel loved, and the disruptive boy was able to experience love even when he was his worst self.

Teachers show hospitality by opening their hearts to students. The students feel it, their hearts are cracked open, and they love back. If a teacher wonders about how to be Christ the Teacher, just be aware of the example of a saint like St. André Bessette and provide hospitality. Your love will make a difference in your life and help you and your students discover Jesus.