A Handshake and A Rose

Photo from www.standrewut.org

When Patrick Jefferies became principal at St. Andrew Catholic School outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, he made a commitment to foster a hospitable school environment for all who set foot inside the school, whether they be students, teachers, staff members, parents or visitors. One of Patrick’s first steps was to attend ACE’s 2015 Latino Enrollment Institute, a program that seeks to transform Catholic schools with open seats, favorable demographic potential, and motivated individuals by teaching them how to attract and serve Latino students more effectively.  

Kari Buchinger had a specific plan. She was going to serve Catholic schools for two years through the LANCE Program, where she would earn her Masters degree while teaching the underprivileged youth of Memphis. Then she would return to New York and work in public schools. 

Dan Reynolds, like most of his colleagues nearing the end of their doctoral programs at Vanderbilt University, has no shortage of things to do. Grant proposal deadlines loom on the horizon, data from his most recent study on high school-level reading comprehension await his analysis, and manuscripts demand his revision. Amid this already full-time juggling act, one that recently earned him the Literacy Research Association’s Student Outstanding Research Award,  Dan and his wife Laura—both graduates of ACE Teaching Fellows’s 13^th cohort—are raising three children under the age of 4 and directing their parish’s Youth Group at St. Ann Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Moving within and among the worlds of educational research, parenting, and ministry, Dan and Laura can say with certainty that their work is never finished. There is always more to be done. 

Since its founding, ACE has graduated nearly 2,000 teachers and leaders. These teachers and leaders have continued to support and transform Catholic education, both directly and indirectly, by living out a commitment to community, spirituality, and professionalism. In an era obsessed with measurement, it is both tempting and worthwhile to quantify the successes and contributions of our graduates. This post, the first in a series of stories from our graduates, is an attempt to capture that which numbers sometimes fail to tell: the nuances and nitty gritty details of moments—sometimes small, sometimes large—through which the mission of ACE continues in the everyday lives of its graduates. This first story explores ACE Teaching Fellows alumnus Alec Torigian’s response to the call to return to teaching.  

On May 11, when St. Francis International School in Silver Spring, Maryland, celebrates its weekly Mass for more than 400 students—kids who trace roots back to 54 countries—one Scripture verse might be ideal for shared reflection:

“See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the wilderness I make a way; in the wasteland, rivers.” (Isaiah 43: 19)