Graduates Earn Recognition for Contributions to Communities as Teachers

Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) sends talented young teachers to serve children in under-resourced Catholic schools around the country, and these caring educators pursue many initiatives during their formation.

At conferences and at the local, state, and even national levels, ACE Teaching Fellows participants are being recognized for their outstanding work in (and out of) the classroom and the gifts they bring to a school and community.

Below we celebrate some of the accomplishments of our ACE 18 graduates:

Dominic Fanelli received two outstanding awards during his time teaching middle school math at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Baton Rouge. In the spring of 2013, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany for the upcoming year. Additionally, Dominic was honored by his faculty in receiving the Brotherhood Award. Voted on by the teachers, the recipient is someone who treats others with respect, exhibits integrity, and is involved in the community. “This was an honor for me to receive and a highlight of my two years at Sacred Heart,” said Fanelli.

Maura Shea, who served as a high school English teacher at Ascension Catholic in Plaquemine, LA, was voted High School Teacher of the Year for the Parochial Schools in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The award is sponsored annually by the Knights of Columbus.

Students of Meghan McDermott, at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School in Corpus Christi, Texas, voted her into the ranks of Teacher of the Week. That honor is bestowed regularly by a local radio station, 96.5 FM. “The radio DJ surprised me in my classroom, and they announced my name on the radio all week,” recalls McDermott regarding the salute she received in March 2013. “It was a very exciting event for the whole school, and all the kids loved hearing Bishop Garriga’s name announced throughout the week.”

Meaghan Crowley, ACE Denver, and Kevin Kimberly, ACE Memphis, were each awarded the Charles Redd Center K-12 Teaching Western History Award. This award is given for innovative lesson planning and teaching of lessons related to the American West. Meaghan and Kevin presented their award-winning lesson plans at the Western History Association conference held in Denver. Brent Modak, ACE Denver, in collaboration with the Library of Congress, also presented at this conference on the importance and implementation of primary sources in education.

Ann Marie Ferry, ACE Mission, presented a lesson at the 60^th Annual Texas Conference for the Social Studies. She created a lesson in which students “examine the role of the Texas economy in the world.” Ferry, who taught middle school social studies and religion at St. Joseph School in Mission, Texas, explained that the lesson entailed “differentiated instruction, as well as extending and refining previous knowledge of the causal relationship between the geography of place and economic activity.”

In conjunction with ACE faculty member Lori Crawford-Dixon and ACE graduates Tara Carey, Jeannine DiCarlantonio, and Ann Ferrello, ACE Atlanta teacher Michele Monk presented at the Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. The group spoke on “K-5 Curriculum and Resources: An Adaptable Model for Instruction.” The presentation aimed to give K-5 foreign language teachers a set of units based on key themes, with accompanying course outcomes, a sample lesson plan and course calendar, and other resources.

Desiree Jerez was invited in May to make a presentation as part of Oklahoma City Archdiocesan Professionals Day. A teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Oklahoma City, Jerez introduced fellow educators to classroom management techniques found in books by Rick Morris and Doug Lemov. Her talk was titled “Quick, Easy, and Simple Changes that Increase Instruction Time.”

We congratulate these and all members of ACE 18 who will participate in ACE’s annual Commencement exercises on July 13, 2013 at the University of Notre Dame.