Featured Story

Ask Evan Phillips how he is doing—I dare you.

Without hesitation and with a smile brighter than sunshine, he will say, “I’m blessed!”

To be an effective science teacher, the teacher must be a true scientist herself. This much is clear to Kelly McCarthy, a teacher and researcher who is one of 12 people recently named to the 2017-2018 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program. McCarthy, a physics, environmental science, and mathematics teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School in Coal Township, Pennsylvania, plans to use this experience working with federal STEM education policy as a way to inspire her students to become problem solvers in science.

In Evan Rhinesmith’s ACE classroom at Sacred Heart School in Washington, DC, his third-graders were already asking about college. They were worried that college might not be for them, that perhaps they wouldn’t be ready, and that the opportunity to continue their education at a higher level might be beyond them, both financially and academically. Evan realized that while many schools focused simply on getting students into college, large numbers of their students still found themselves in need of help and guidance once they reached a higher level of education. Having just earned his doctorate in education policy from the University of Arkansas, Evan studied the connections and disconnections between the K-12 and higher education systems with a focus on post-secondary remediation policies. 

It’s a weekday afternoon when my colleague Matt Rhodes and I dial Laura Andrews in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to talk with her about her experiences with Catholic education. We detect traces of a child’s voice in the background. “One second, Margaret,” we hear Laura say to her daughter, who is just over a year old. Laura has just returned home from the School of Saint Mary, which is part of the parish where she and her husband belong, and where she teaches sixth-grade language arts part-time. As Matt and I reflect on the content of the Catholic education-related conversation we are having with Laura, we can’t help but marvel at the way her seemingly seamless shifts between her direct service to Catholic schools and her attention to Margaret animate the overarching theme of our conversation: that life happens in and through Catholic schools.

For Steve Dole, becoming principal at Lourdes Academy meant an opportunity to truly embody the core values of a Notre Dame ACE Academy. As a member of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, Steve had talked with his instructors about his desire to take on a leadership position in a school where his new knowledge could have the greatest impact. When the position at Lourdes Academy opened, Steve decided that moving from New York to Daytona Beach would be the first step in living out one of the NDAA’s core values – service to others. In his first year as principal, Steve has looked for new and innovative ways to help Lourdes Academy not only serve others, but also to show how God’s love is inspiring his students to seek, persist, excel, and love.