From the Field: Christie Hjerpe

As a young girl, when ACE 17's Christie Hjerpe heard her grandfather sing, "It's a great day to be alive," little did she know that years later, it would become a kind of theme song in her classroom!

Christie teaches third grade at Santa Cruz Catholic School, a Notre Dame ACE Academy in Tucson, Arizona. True to the upbeat nature of that song, the Rhode Island native is an enthusiastic ACEr, who says that "ACE had my heart" from her earliest days as an ND undergrad. Christie is also an enthusiastic Notre Dame ACE Academies teacher, saying, "I feel so blessed to have the support at Notre Dame ACE Academies that I do; [it] has definitely made the transition into teaching easier and more enjoyable."

Christie is especially enthusiastic about literacy: "It's almost become an obsession. I want all of my kids to read at grade level or above, no excuses." It can be a challenge for any classroom, but Christie Hjerpe remains undaunted. "With Notre Dame ACE Academies we're developing a stronger school culture, with shared beliefs that all of our kids can make it to college and heaven."

So, whenever her students are tired, Christie cheers them on with, "Work hard, get smart...no excuses." And whenever she gets tired, her students start to sing, "It's a great day to be alive!" With the semester just half over, Christie reports that she has seen tremendous growth in her readers.

"If Notre Dame ACE Academies teachers and staff can really make kids feel like it's a great day to be alive, and help them to see God in all things, we will achieve our goals of sending these kids to college and heaven." She continues, "I feel so blessed that I can wake up happy to go to work in the morning, knowing that I'll have 24 smiling faces at my door waiting to say 'Good morning!' 'I love you!' and 'Miss H., we're ready to learn!' Now, what could be better than that?"

Listen to Travis Tritt sing "It's a great day to be alive!"

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