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On Friday, June 1, members of the newest ACE Teaching Fellows cohort (19) landed at Notre Dame for their first summer of teacher training. They began trickling onto campus early in the morning, and spent the day moving into their dorm rooms and getting settled for a late-afternoon opening session and picnic, and then a weekend retreat of contemplation about the next year of their lives.

"It's an intense, gear-changing weekend," one ACE graduate mused, full of teachings and conversations about the transition into ACE life, graduate school, and the call to discipleship. Among topics the cohort considered: the shift from college student to teacher and graduate student; the role of serving one's school; and how the Spirit has gifted each of them uniquely for the experience ahead.

Considering the fact that most of the cohort graduated college less than a month ago, a handful arrived from other countries, and all are completely new to every facet of ACE, it's no surprise that the weekend is intellectually and emotionally potent. ACE pastoral staff members are therefore careful to ground every discussion in the context of ministry, view each pillar through a spiritual lens, and encourage the new teachers that as the next two years unfold, they will be serving in the strength of God, who never leaves or forsakes them.

Boston ACE Advocates (BACE), along with several students, donated a Spring Clean-up day of service to St. Rose of Lima School in Chelsea.  Pictured above are BACE members Shannon Kwiatek and Meg DeLaney with a St. Rose student, sanitizing kindergarten toys.

The Chicago chapter of ACE Advocates hosted its third annual Educator Forum at Gordon Tech College Prep. The theme of this year's forum was "Meeting the Diverse Needs in Catholic Schools"; its focus was on best practices for inclusion, differentiation, and leadership at the elementary and high school level.


After hosting a CornHole Tournament to raise funds for Annunciation school (where, at right, Advocates receive instructions before launching the bean bag fun), Denver Advocates wrapped up the semester with gratitude, delivering gifts of bagels and juice to the area's six ACE schools.  They will celebrate the year (and the success of raising over $3,300 for Catholic schools) with a community happy hour.




Advocates in Indianapolis spruced up the gardens at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, a perfect springtime activity. This was the fourth of their Prayer/Service/Community-building days this year, which continue to draw not only graduates of ACE but also a host of other Catholic school supporters. Later this month, they'll finish the year with an afternoon retreat. Pictured above are Gary Asher, Peggy O'Conner-Campbell, Joe Feeser, Ann Berends, and Mary McCoy.

ACE Ireland had a Missioning Mass to send forth two teachers to serve in ACE partner schools in the United States. Fr. Michael Drumm shared a meaningful reflection on how grass grows. Read about that here.



In Mobile, four local groups came together for a service project at Most Pure Heart of Mary School. Members of the Notre Dame Club of Mobile, the Eastern Shore Young Adults, and the Mobile ACE Advocates along with several local teachers from Notre Dame's ACE program did yard work and painted a classroom and other areas around the school.




Because area Catholic schools don't have a school soccer league, Tucson Advocates organized a soccer tournament for students last month.

View more pictures of some of these regional activities on Facebook.

If you have updates you'd like to share about your ACE Advocates region, click here.

Three outstanding educators committed to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools have been selected to receive the 2012 Michael Pressley Awards from the Alliance for Catholic Education's ACE Advocates for Catholic Schools.

The seventh annual Michael Pressley Awards for Excellence in Catholic Education will go to Molly Carlin and Kyle Pietrantonio, who are both outstanding school leaders in the Atlanta area. The second annual Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field will go to Michael Faggella-Luby, a newly tenured associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut.

The summer break at the University of Notre Dame will surge with energy as the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) begins its peak season. This internationally known initiative will welcome new classes to its formation programs for teachers and leaders and will host numerous campus programs and events for people passionate about sustaining, strengthening, and transforming Catholic schools.

ACE is best known for its ACE Teaching Fellows program, founded in 1993, to prepare young men and women from around the country to serve as teachers in under-resourced Catholic K-12 schools in more than two dozen dioceses. Nearly 90 newcomers in ACE's 19th class will arrive on Friday, June 1, to begin their formation in this two-year journey that culminates in an M.Ed. degree.

These competitively selected members of ACE 19 will join the ACE 18 teachers taking their second summer of courses, and all will spend eight weeks experiencing the pillars of ACE formation—excellence in professional service, community life, and spiritual growth. The two cohorts will live in residence halls and share retreats and daily Mass opportunities during their rigorous summer schedules. They will prepare to take up classroom duties this fall in numerous cities—from Brownsville, TX, to Washington, DC, from Los Angeles to Memphis to Tucson—serving children in Catholic schools while living in intentional ACE community houses near those schools.