Faces of TEC

Brett Woodward is a Pre-K – 8 School Counselor at Incarnation Catholic School in Tampa, Florida. His desire to join the ACE TEC program derived from frequent the uncertainty he felt about the most proven strategies to help struggling learners. When working with students that were having academic or behavior difficulties, he found himself being able to creatively problem solve ways in which he could try and impact their learning; however, the action plans he developed were a result of trial and error rather than effective practices that could lead to future success.      

TEC gave Brett the understanding that in order to help students achieve academic success he must make a commitment to providing them with the necessary resources required for them to grow mentally, socially, and emotionally. Through TEC’s approach to learning, he has acquired the confidence and ability to develop and implement academic and/or behavioral plans that yield student growth. TEC has also provided Brett with the resources to reduce the amount of trial and error he was experiencing with struggling students and has allowed him to become a more effective problem solver.

One of the accomplishments that Brett is most proud of as a result of the TEC program has been the development of a Student Intervention Team (SIT) at his school. SIT is a team of teachers that provides support for students who exhibit academic and/or behavior challenge through strategically chosen interventions that are data driven. The implementation of this team at Brett’s school has fostered a greater sense of collaboration among teachers and parents while also reinforcing their commitment to each and every child’s immediate success as well as their and life long success.

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."

Betsy Rafferty, also an ACE Teaching Fellows graduate, currently teaches high school math and religion in Columbus, Ohio. Betsy reflects on how her initial teaching experience through ACE made her aware of the value of a program like TEC:  "I realized while in my ACE school that it does not matter how great your lesson plan is if your student has an underlying issue or environmental stressor that is rendering the student unable to learn. These issues or stressors often manifest themselves as learning or behavioral issues. I am excited to be in the TEC program, improving my ability to evaluate and help resolve these issues.”