Notre Dame's National Bus Tour for Education Resumes Visits to Schools
Next Leg of Travels with Alliance for Catholic Education is "Fighting for Our Children's Future" in 10 More Cities
The University of Notre Dame’s Fighting for our Children’s Future National Bus Tour, marking the 20th anniversary of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), returns to the road on Feb. 6, 2014, with plans to visit Catholic schools in ten more cities and promote educational excellence for all children.
This second leg of the bus tour follows an array of activities in 14 cities during the fall 2013 semester, when ACE leaders helped to raise awareness of K-12 Catholic schools, their contributions to communities, and their local champions through award presentations and other events. The University will continue its call to extend educational opportunities for serving society and bringing hope to low-income students.
A bus branded with the messages of Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education begins the journey’s second leg in Biloxi, Miss., on Feb. 6 and closes this segment of its national tour in Atlanta, Ga., on Feb. 23-26. The full itinerary for February covers Mobile, Ala., Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La., and several cities in Florida, including the Tampa Bay area, where an innovative model for inner-city Catholic schools—Notre Dame ACE Academies— is producing major gains in academic performance, student enrollments, and financial support.
By mid-May, Alliance for Catholic Education representatives will renew their local partnerships and spread their message of hope through events and honors in nearly 50 cities. This National Bus Tour, segmented into four legs spanning the current academic year, marks ACE’s 20 years of service based on the pillars of education, community life, and spiritual growth. The Alliance for Catholic Education has become the nation’s premier provider of teachers and other resources to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools.
The ACE Teaching Fellows formation initiative has commissioned over 1,200 teachers for Catholic schools as part of a curriculum granting the Master of Education degree. This and other programs constitute a nationwide movement forming and supporting a next generation of leaders to ensure that all children, especially those from low-income families, have the opportunity to experience the gift of an excellent Catholic education.
The Alliance for Catholic Education was co-founded in 1993 by Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C., and Rev. Sean McGraw, C.S.C. , and many early ACE teachers served in southern dioceses. The Notre Dame National Bus Tour will kick off the second phase of its journey in some of the first cities ACE teachers called home. ACE Teaching Fellows participants have served in Mobile for all 20 years and in Biloxi since the second cohort of college graduates was sent forth to teach.
During the first leg of the National Bus Tour in late 2013, when ACE leaders visited cities including New York, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C., Father Scully received the Manhattan Institute’s William E. Simon Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship for founding and leading the Alliance for Catholic Education. A professor of political science, Fr. Scully is the Hackett Family Director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives.
As the tour’s second leg rolls into ten additional cities, Notre Dame scholars and specialists in elementary and secondary education will continue to spotlight the profound effect an excellent education can make on a child’s life. Visits by the bus and presentation of awards will help to celebrate the hope-filled mission of Catholic schools in the lives of children and families across the United States.