ACE Teaching Fellows

            The Alliance for Catholic Education's ACE Teaching Fellows model for sending forth college graduates to teach in Catholic schools, now in place at 15 colleges nationwide, is an "enterprise that has hallmarked the contours of Catholic education in the last decade." That's a description by historian Timothy Walch, whose article in the latest issue of American Catholic Studies surveys major responses to the challenges facing Catholic schools in the United States.

"Collaboration among and between Catholic universities across the nation," beginning with ACE at the University of Notre Dame in 1993, led to establishment of the University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE), Walch points out. He praises the UCCE as "a locus for collaboration and experimentation" in his article, titled "An Honest Response to Serious Losses: Recent Initiatives in American Catholic Education."

The author emphasizes that the three pillars embodied in the ACE model—academic preparation, community, and spirituality—make the Consortium experience unique. He quotes Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, senior director of ACE's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, as saying: "While the participants of Consortium programs are not members of a religious community, nor do they limit acceptance to specifically Catholic applicants, they are historically linked to the original mission [represented by professed religious who were the majority of teachers in an earlier era]."

"In the Consortium program's three pillar model, new teachers view their work through the lens of service," Father Nuzzi continued.

American Catholic Studies, published by the American Catholic Historical Society, is the oldest continuously published Catholic scholarly journal in the United States. Walch's article appears in the fall 2012 issue—volume 123, no. 3.

The Observer, the student newspaper for the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College, presented a front-page feature about ACE Teaching Fellows on Nov. 8. Sarah Greene, associate director of ACE Teaching Fellows, along with current ACE teachers Steven Alagna and Caitlin Wrend, discussed the ACE mission and their ACE experiences.

Many teachers can relate to having two or three students who are disruptive and making life difficult. It can be every five minutes that a teacher has to say, "Mr. Jones, please get back in your seat." Or "Ms. Smith, please stop talking and pay attention."

These constant types of disruption are upsetting for the teacher and cause one to feel inadequate. After all, the teacher has prepared great lessons for the day and within ten minutes may feel frustrated and angry. It is wearing on one's patience, and the teacher goes home feeling like a failure. This is not what a teacher signs up for when deciding to become a teacher. The motivation has been to love these children and make a difference in lives. The feeling, however, is different, and many a teacher feels overwhelmed, unloved and discouraged.

How does one face a challenge like that? What can be done? Who can provide the support that is needed? There are many people such as the principal, mentor teacher, community members, academic advisor and pastoral administrator. The teacher is not alone, although he or she may feel alone.

I was thinking about classroom experiences that drag teachers down and thought about a passage of Matthew, Chapter 25: 31 – 40. This is the story of the last judgment. Jesus says that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and prisoners, we are doing it for him. I would like to suggest that you take this chapter and apply it to teaching.

Think about your students—and in particular the few who make you feel incompetent. Take the gospel and change it slightly. Consider Jesus saying:

" I was anxious, nervous, suffering from a learning disability, unable to read, and not respected. When you loved and accepted the troubled student, you did it for me. You made me feel I was a welcomed and a valuable person."

Every day that you walk into the classroom, notice the presence of Jesus in your students. If you do this, you will make a difference and you will see that your primary support is Jesus himself. The vocation of being a teacher is an invitation to connect your experiences to the gospel and grow in faith in Christ.

Cassie Brownell had her first introduction to Catholic schools when she enrolled at Marquette University. "The closest Catholic school [to our small North-Central Montana town] was sixty miles away," she tells us. What captured her imagination as a college freshman is what continues to motivate her today: a love of service and living "as a woman for others."

That motivation is also what led her to ACE Teaching Fellows (plus, she says, the influence of "some great MU alums in the ACE program") and then spurred her to enroll in ACE Teaching Exceptional Children. About her interest in TEC, Cassie says, "After three years teaching in post-Katrina New Orleans, two years in second grade with ACE and one year in first grade at my post-ACE school, I recognized trends among the academic and behavioral needs of the students I encountered. From discussions with [ACE Senior Director of Program Development] Dr. Joyce Johnstone, I knew more could be done to address the needs of not only students but parents and educators."

Through TEC, Cassie established a Strategic Intervention Team (SIT) at her school, which allowed her and her colleagues to develop relationships with six families that now, she says, "have new hope for the future of their children's academic careers." She went on to say, "My principal commented that SIT is the single-best thing to happen at our school."

Now in her fifth year of teaching, Cassie continues her focus on service and living for others. Recently she visited her ACE school, where she ran into a former student. In the first moments of their conversation, the student asked, "Do you still love all of us?" That summed up Cassie's commitment as a Catholic and an educator: "Loving my students and meeting them where they are."

A national Catholic radio program, "The Son Rise Morning Show," talked with ACE last week about the communities of teachers who serve in 26 arch/dioceses around the country as part of the ACE Teaching Fellows  initiative. Amy Wyskochil, director of operations for ACE Teaching Fellows, talked to program host Brian Patrick about the recent New York Times column that commented how the legacy of religious orders' service in U.S. Catholic schools is recalled by these intentional faith communities for the 21st century.

Meanwhile, The Tidings,newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told an uplifting story of caring students and teachers engaged in the "Locks of Love" initiative at Mother of Sorrows School in South LA, a school served by ACE graduates. The story mentions the role of teacher Heidi Witte, formerly in ACE Teaching Fellows, and principal Griselda Villareal, who is currently a first-year participant in the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program.