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The Congregation of Holy Cross is providing education as a cornerstone of its long-term commitment to human development in northern India, two Holy Cross priests told a Notre Dame audience on Feb. 15.

Rev. Emmanuel Kallarckal, C.S.C., described how Holy Cross College, founded four years ago in the city of Agartala and led by him as principal, has become a channel of service and hope for people in the state of Tripura, a majority of whom are of tribal origin.

"Education is one of the best means to reach out to these people,” said Father Kallarckal. The Holy Cross mission of “educating hearts and minds” is improving lives and affirming respect for human dignity through the college and more than a dozen other schools, he added.

Holy Cross first brought its mission to that region of the world—to what was then called East Bengal—in 1852. The new Holy Cross College is the first Catholic, English-language college in Tripura, not far from India’s borders with Burma and China. People of tribal origin constitute a majority of the college’s students, and many of them are the first generation in their families to attend college.

Rev. Pinto Paul, C.S.C., another member of the Holy Cross community in northern India, said the congregation’s commitment to education conveys the message that “every child is a gift of God who can become a world-class citizen.”

Catholic education forms students with lifelong values, but the values are also lived out through such work as improving sanitation and health care for the population, said Father Paul. Indeed, schools serve as local centers of health care.

While visiting Notre Dame, Father Kallarckal attended an annual conference on human development sponsored by the Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. He was accompanied by Robert Lushai, a tribal-background student from Holy Cross College in Agartala.

The priests’ presentation in Remick Commons at Carole Sandner Hall was co-sponsored by the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE). They were introduced by Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C., an assistant professor of political science and faculty fellow at Kellogg who directs the Ford Program.

The presentation included remarks by Notre Dame undergraduates who had conducted independent research on education in northern India. They had received support from the Holy Cross community and from Prof. Tamo Chattopadhay, a faculty fellow in both the Kellogg Institute and the Institute for Educational Initiatives. Chattopadhay also represented Notre Dame as a speaker at the graduation ceremony for Holy Cross College’s Class of 2012.

Father Dowd concluded the discussion by saying he hoped these educational connections between Notre Dame and the work of the Congregation of Holy Cross would increase: “Holy Cross is doing remarkable work that is helping the people of northeast India to realize their God-given potential,” he said.             

When Corinne Viglietta (pictured here, third from left) graduated from Notre Dame, she had no idea she would one day be a high school teacher, let alone call herself part of the ACE and Cristo Rey families.

After studying literature in graduate school, she went on to teach English in France. Upon returning to the United States, she landed at an innovative Catholic high school, Don Bosco Cristo Rey in Washington, D.C. Her school is founded on the Cristo Rey model, which gives low-income students the chance to work in corporate jobs to finance their college-prep tuition.

Accustomed to working with college students, Corinne found teaching high school juniors—many of whom were English language learners—an enormous challenge. She explains, "I knew I needed a stronger background in linguistics and more classroom strategies, but I didn't know where to look. I was an English nerd. I had never taken an education class in my life."

Corinne learned about ACE's English as a New Language (ENL) program, which trains teachers to educate linguistically diverse student populations, and decided to apply. The ENL program helped Corinne teach challenging works by Shakespeare and Woolf to non-native readers and build a repertoire of developmentally appropriate strategies for teaching academic writing.

Through ENL, Corinne also learned to strengthen community partnerships, especially those with universities, museums, and student families. Recently, she even started a student-staffed writing center at her school, where most of the peer tutors are English language learners. "It's a friendly, supportive space for young writers," she says. "Students run the show. Differences are celebrated. Everyone's welcome."

The ENL program introduced her to the vibrancy of ACE's mission and shaped the way she taught all of her students, not just those who spoke another language at home. It also opened many doors for her professionally. After completing the program in 2011, Corinne has returned to Notre Dame for the past two summers to help coordinate the summer component of ENL. She also assists a former ENL professor with her online course.

"ENL has nurtured my vocation as a teacher," Corinne says. "I'm so grateful to ENL and to ACE for helping me develop my passion for language and literature and reminding me of my call to support the most vulnerable among us."

"Be ready for a wonderful ride," says Maggie Smith, an ACE graduate and Catholic school teacher who has a 9-month-old daughter, when asked what advice she would give to a mom who is considering being a teacher.

"There will be times when balancing teaching and motherhood seems too much to handle," says fellow ACE Teaching Fellows grad Stacy Wall, "but know that the daily challenges make you a more compassionate teacher and a more appreciative mother."

These conversations, plus an interview with ACE Teaching Fellows director of operations Amy Wyskochil, were reported in a two-part story at Lisa Hendey's Catholic Mom blog. Read Amy's description of ACE in part one, and read more about Maggie and Stacy in part two.

[Update: Listen to Frank DiLallo interviewed (Feb. 19) on the Son Rise Morning Show, a program heard nationwide on 180 Catholic radio stations.]

Frank DiLallo, who serves the Diocese of Toledo as Prevention/Intervention Schools Consultant, will present workshops describing Peace Be With You: Christ-Centered Bullying Solution, his unique set of anti-bullying resources for Catholic schools, at two upcoming national conferences.

DiLallo has been invited to make presentations at the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference (Feb. 22-24, 2013) and at the National Catholic Educational Association annual conference, scheduled for April 2-4, 2013, in Houston.

The Peace Be With You resources he authored, which are published by the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Press at the University of Notre Dame, constitute the only Christian, Scripture-based bullying prevention program available for students in grades 4-8.

This three-phase anti-bullying program for Catholic and Christian schools is a valuable tool for administrators and teachers working with students to address bullying situations. The program helps teachers and students manage stress, build leadership skills and supportive peer relationships, and contribute to a Christ-centered school environment by developing specific skill sets.

ACE Press also publishes and sells DiLallo’s parallel resource package for public and secular school districts, with the program titled Peace2U: Three Phase Bullying Solution. The Scripture-based Peace Be With You materials include a Teacher’s Manual, a separate student workbook, and a digital download of the Peace2U Stress Less Series audio file

The Peace Be With You Catholic school program that DiLallo will be describing at the upcoming conferences has been fully implemented in 40 schools of the Toledo Diocese. The Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, STD, Bishop of Toledo, says this of the program and its author:

“Frank DiLallo brings a wealth of professional experience and insight to a problem that plagues so many of our schools and harms so many children. His Christ-centered solution opens up a new and hopeful path for people of faith.”

See Toledo television coverage of the anti-bullying program.

The program has been implemented or piloted in numerous schools in several dioceses around the country, including the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, and the Diocese of Steubenville.

See coverage in the San Francisco archdiocesan newspaper. Scroll to page CSW-16.

Sister Julia Hutchinson of the Diocese of Charleston, who was superintendent of South Carolina’s Catholic schools from 2005 to 2010, states this in her review of the program: “Frank DiLallo has brought Christ to concerned educators and to the center of the bullying solution.”

In addition to consulting on prevention/intervention for 78 Catholic schools in the Toledo Diocese, where he has been employed since 1990, DiLallo is director of Consulting and Training Services, LLC. The firm provides educational training opportunities on bullying prevention and intervention for educators across the country.

DiLallo holds a B.A. in sociology and a master’s degree in education, and he has completed post-graduate doctoral coursework in clinical psychology. He is licensed as a professional counselor in Ohio and is state certified as a prevention specialist. In 2010, he was a contributing author to Stepping Stones to Success: Experts Share Strategies for Mastering Business, Life, and Relationships.

Find more information about DiLallo and Peace Be With You at acepress.nd.edu.

Rep. John Boehner, Speaker of the House, invited two students of St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington, D.C., to be among his guests in the Speaker's Box at this week's State of the Union Address. The students, Lacy Joseph and Zuri Franklin, were interviewed for NBC's "Today" Show, and Boehner was interviewed by anchor Matt Lauer as well.

The principal of St. Anthony School is Michael Thomasian, a graduate of ACE's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. He is pictured in the middle of the accompanying photo.

Boehner, a strong supporter of Catholic schools, led the fight to reinstitute the Opportunity Scholarships program, a parental choice program in Washington, D.C., that allows public school students to receive financial support for attending private schools like St. Anthony to pursue greater educational opportunities.

The Speaker told Lauer that he hopes the message to fourth-graders Lacy and Zuri this week is that they can grow up to experience the American Dream. He has made it a tradition to invite students of inner-city schools as State of the Union guests.