Michael Pressley Awards Will Go to 3 Outstanding Educators

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.

Carlin is a graduate of ACE's ACE Teaching Fellows program in the ACE 7 cohort and also a graduate of ACE's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program (RLP), which forms teachers to be principals and leaders for Catholic schools. She will serve during the 2012-2013 school year as principal of Queen of Angels Catholic School, in Roswell, Georgia, near Atlanta, where she has been assistant principal. She previously served as a teacher and assistant principal at St. Michael School in Cary, North Carolina.

Pietrantonio, a graduate of the ACE 10 cohort, currently serves as principal of the lower school at Holy Spirit Preparatory School in Atlanta and will serve that school's pre-K through 12th grade program as associate head of school starting this fall. His pursuit of a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy reflects his commitment to continuous learning and improvement.

Faggella-Luby, who received his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Kansas, holds two research positions at the University of Connecticut—Associate Research Scholar in the Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability, as well as Research Scientist in the Center for Behavioral Education and Research. Faggella-Luby is a graduate of the ACE 5 cohort.

The Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education each year goes to two graduates of ACE Teaching Fellows who have made significant contributions to the ministry of Catholic education. The Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field goes to an ACE formation program graduate whose work in academia echoes Dr. Michael Pressley's commitment to strengthening education through research and scholarship.

Dr. Pressley, whom these awards honor, was a prodigious and world-renowned scholar who served as the inaugural academic director of ACE's M. Ed. degree program, ACE Teaching Fellows. He died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer. All Pressley Award recipients reflect his dedication to service and scholarship for the benefit of children and Catholic schools across the nation.

Molly Carlin has been described as an educator who "brought magic to the classroom" during her days as a fifth grade teacher in North Carolina. After she became assistant principal in that school, she used her gifts as a composed, pastoral, and community-focused leader to make "even the most irregular of school days appear seamless." Having moved to a school in the Atlanta area, she recalls, "I can confidently say that my Catholic education—from preschool to high school—has made me the person that I am today. It is an honor to be able to pass the gift of Catholic education on to so many students, as I believe they are the future of our Church."

Kyle Pietrantonio is especially dedicated to the professional development of his faculty. "I have been blessed to have some of the most influential people in my life guide my professional path and affirm and reaffirm my choice to serve Catholic schools—first as teacher and now as a teacher of teachers," he says. A nominator has said Pietrantonio's "enthusiasm for his profession pervades our community ... and makes teachers want to improve their own teaching craft to rise to his level of excellence." Pietrantonio currently serves on the Feasibility Study Board for Cristo Rey Atlanta, seeking to open a Cristo Rey school in the city in the near future.

Faggella-Luby's recent work has included consulting services to ACE's Teaching Exceptional Children certification program. He says of the award for a promising scholar: "I am honored to receive this award named after Mike [Pressley]. His scholarship has set the standard for our field, especially in the area of reading, our shared passion. I hope to continue to live out my vocation as an educator that first began in the ACE program."