Catholic School Champion: Brick Maier

What do ACE Teaching Fellows, film-making, entrepreneurship, and Catholic schools have in common? Brick Maier. Over the last several years, the ACE 8 graduate has put his ACE teaching experience to work, honing his skills as a filmmaker and entrepreneur to create educational resources for community and classroom.

Of his years as an ACE teacher, Brick writes, "The actual experience of learning how to teach was very humbling." But the result was confidence. ACE taught Brick to take on new challenges boldly, knowing that "if I could survive the first couple years of teaching, I could do pretty much anything."

Most recently, that has meant developing tools that foster creative play and media literacy. Specifically, he has created a Tabletop Moviemaking Studio Kit, which enhances the power of story-telling. Catholic schools, he tells us, are particularly amenable to such a resource. "I have found that [they] are uniquely positioned to move quickly on implementing innovative ideas because the organizational leadership is nimble." Currently, Brick is raising funds for the production of these kits via a Kickstarter campaign.

The former Fulbright scholar with a heart for today's youth sees that Catholic schools are a powerful force for positive change, "especially in our inner city schools. From my teaching experience in Los Angeles to filming in Catholic schools in Haiti, I have learned that Catholic education, simply put, opens doors."

Support Brick Maier's work here. See his video about Haiti here. To order a Tabletop Moviemaking Studio Kit, click here.