News

No matter what role she plays as an educator--resource specialist, author, classroom teacher--this ACE Teaching Fellows graduate emphasizes that she's doing not her work, but God's.

How did you come to be involved in education and Catholic schools?

I always tell people that education chose me, not the other way around. From tutoring to teaching religious education, I was involved in education from a young age. However, it wasn't until my time in ACE that I truly realized that education was, indeed, my vocation.

What led you to ACE?

The community pillar was what really made ACE stand out over other service programs I was considering, such as Peace Corps. I realized that I wanted to share my day-to-day experiences with a group of like minded individuals. My experience in community did not disappoint!

How did ACE prepare you for what you've done since graduating and for what you're doing now?

ACE challenged me to truly be a professional educator by staying current on research and translating that into my own practice. I also recently realized that while I (thankfully) don't keep a reflective journal about my students and my classroom like I was required to during ACE, that I do continually reflect on what I'm experiencing.

And while I'm not currently working in a Catholic school, I bring those experiences with me every day. During our first ACE summer, Fr. Scully told us that we needn't be anxious about teaching because we were doing God's work in our classrooms, not ours. I started each morning with a prayer asking God to help me do His work. I find myself still praying those words each morning.

How do you see ACE making a difference in Catholic schools?

ACE helps young people discern a vocation to serve children in Catholic schools. What bigger difference could be made?

Jess and her husband, Tre', live in Columbus, Ohio. After many years serving as an elementary education resource specialist at the Ohio State University, she returned to the classroom and is now teaching 1st-5th grade science. Her book, Inquiring Scientists, Inquiring Readers: Using Nonfiction to Promote Science Literacy, Grades 3-5, co-written with Terry Shiverdecker, can be pre-ordered and will be officially released on October 25.

Dr. Christian Dallavis, director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies at the Alliance for Catholic Education, was interviewed on Tucson’s KVOI-AM radio on Aug. 30 about Notre Dame’s partnership with three Catholic schools in the city. Hear the interview, in which he outlined the successes being experienced at the schools.

The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta welcomed the community of ACE teachers living in Atlanta and teaching at Catholic schools in the area:

A Notre Dame student-athlete, Ryan Koter, who is also a member of the University’s Folk Choir, traveled to Ireland with the choir recently. They sang at a Mass in the town of Maynooth, with the ACE Advisory Board among the congregants, as told by the Notre Dame Athletics Department:

Betsy Bohlen, who is a member of the advisory board of ACE Consulting, was recently appointed Administrator for Financial Protocols in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bohlen is responsible for ensuring that the Archdiocese achieves financial stability through the protocols developed by the Finance Council.

Rev. Joseph Corpora, C.S.C., director of ACE's Catholic School Advantage campaign, wrote a commentary on the celebration of the Eucharist at Notre Dame in the Aug. 29 Observer, as well as a reflection for the pray.nd.edu website.

Reading for Life, developed at the Institute for Educational Initiatives, is an innovative literature-based mentoring program that helps juvenile offenders make better life choices. National Public Radio’s “Participation Nation” blog gave the program recognition last week, saluting program director Alesha Seroczynski.

Education Week reported on the AP-TIP IN initiative that is administered by the Institute for Educational Initiatives. . The program, in partnership with National Math and Science (NMS) and Indiana’s Department of Education, increases college-readiness and career-readiness for public high schoolers through teaching and learning in Advanced Placement ® courses in math, science, and English.

Two inner-city Catholic schools in Tucson have welcomed back students with a particular sense of change and hope in the air, entering a third year of unusual innovations and investments that pay off for the children and the city.

The two elementary schools—St. John the Evangelist and Santa Cruz—were designated in 2010 as Notre Dame ACE Academies, representing an in-depth partnership with the University of Notre Dame and its Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).

That partnership has ushered in state-of-the-art reading and math programs, along with support services to help faculty members adopt the various innovations for the maximum benefit of each student. School culture has become more focused on Catholic identity, featuring a drive for personal excellence that proclaims "College and Heaven" as each child's primary goals. More families in the largely Hispanic and low-income neighborhoods have lined up to enroll their children, and scholarship availability for enrollments has jumped, thanks to Arizona's parental choice tax credit program and resultant contributions from both corporations and individuals.

September 2012

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings from Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education! With the new school year in full-swing, we wanted to take a moment to thank all who make the ACE Movement a force for sustaining, strengthening, and transforming Catholic schools.

Thank you to the 180 teachers and 60 school leaders enrolled in ACE's degree programs this year! Thanks to the many teachers who are gaining additional skills through ACE's English as a New Language and Teaching Exceptional Children programs! Thank you to the countless superintendents, principals, and mentor teachers who are helping ACE form a new generation of exceptionally talented, faith-filled leaders for Catholic schools! Thanks to the nearly two-thousand ACE graduates who continue the work of making a high quality Catholic school education available to all!

Thank you to ACE's innumerable friends, partners, and collaborators. You are the engine for ACE's work in service to Catholic schools, the Church, and the nation; you are the ACE Movement!

This will be an exciting year for ACE's mission, and this monthly e-newsletter will keep you updated on our programs and activities. I hope that you'll find our newsletter to be informative, but also invitational: We're always eager to hear from you, and to learn more about how we can be of service. And, if you enjoy what you read, we ask that you invite your colleagues and friends to sign up as well.

May the new year bring many graces to you and your family, and may Christ the Teacher shower you with blessings!

Chuck Lamphier, Director, ACE Advocates