Notre Dame marks 20th anniversary of teacher-
training program on road
By Carol Zimmermann
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Some orga-
nizations celebrate milestone anniversa-
ries by hosting big events at their head-
quarters, but not the University of Notre
Dameʼs Alliance for Catholic Education.
The program -- which serves under-
resourced Catholic schools -- is marking
its 20th anniversary on the road.
Alliance for Catholic Education
, called
ACE
, began a nine-month 50-city bus tour
in October, bringing the programʼs lead-
ers to Catholic schools around the country
in a donated bus decorated with the slogan
“Fighting for Our Childrenʼs Future
National Bus Tour.”
The tour, divided into four sections,
started in Dallas and made stops during
the fall in the Midwest and the East Coast.
After a December and January break, it
was set to resume in February touring the
South, Southwest and West Coast before
finishing in Seattle in May. It can be followed on
Twitter @theACEbus and stops are posted online at
Holy Cross Father Timothy Scully, a co-founder of
ACE
, which began in 1993, came up with the bus tour
idea as a way to see whatʼs going on at the local level
at Catholic schools. At stops en route program officials
awarded a school and educator in each diocese and met
with local politicians and diocesan and educational
leaders.
In an interview with
Catholic News Service
during
the middle of the first leg of the tour, Holy Cross Father
Sean McGraw,
ACEʼs
co-founder, and John Staud,
senior director for pastoral formation and administra-
tion, said they had been energized by what they had
seen so far.
Father McGraw said the school visits “are about the
kids” and have been a great way to “rally the troops.”
Staud said they were seeing firsthand how
ACE
-
trained teachers or school partners were making a dif-
ference, but they also saw how much more can be done.
“We feel weʼre just getting started,” he said.
ACE
began with a
Service Through Teaching
pro-
gram sending teachers to continue their training while
serving under-resourced Catholic schools in the U.S. It
has since expanded to include a Catholic school leader-
ship program, academic formation, outreach and pro-
fessional development.
While the Notre Dame group paid tribute to schools
and teachers, Father Scully received recognition of his
own in New York where he was awarded the $100,000
William E. Simon Prize for Lifetime Achievement in
Social Entrepreneurship for founding and leading
ACE
.
The award was presented by officials from the
Manhattan Institute Nov. 5 at the University Club in
Manhattan and the prize money will be given to the
Congregation of Holy Cross to support its worldwide
education mission.
While the
ACE
bus was in New York, it visited Our
Lady Queen of Martyrs School in Manhattan.
During a Nov. 6 welcoming ceremony, Timothy
McNiff, New Yorkʼs archdiocesan superintendent of
schools, said: “Thereʼs a uniqueness about our Catholic
schools thatʼs not matched by any other school system,
but itʼs very, very challenging to keep schools open.
The University of Notre Dame is one of the best part-
ners that we could have to make sure we have a vibrant
Catholic school community in New York.”
Michelle Eusebio, a 1999 alumna of Our Lady
Queen of Martyrs School, had high praise for her alma
mater, where her 6-year-old son, Jayden, is a first-
grader.
“As a student here, I practically lived here,” Eusebio
said. “This is the place where I found myself.”
As for son Jayden, “Heʼs here because this is home
to him.”
Eusebio is still a fixture at Queen of Martyrs
School, now as a madrina, or parent ambassador. The
Madrinas Program is an initiative of the New York
Archdiocese in response to
ACEʼs
Catholic School
Advantage campaign, a national endeavor to improve
the educational opportunities of Hispanic and Latino
children. “Madrina” is the Spanish word for godmother.
Father Antonio Almonte, pastor of Queen of
Martyrs, is a 1982 graduate of the school where he
discovered his vocation.
After the assembly, he spoke of how the gathering
would continue to rally the student body even after the
bus pulled away.
“Itʼs really an important day for us,”
Father Almonte said. “It reinforces our
commitment to Catholic school education
and to helping those of low-income to
come to Catholic schools. Because of the
madrinas scholarships, a number of our
students are able to attend this school.”
The pastor was pleased with the rous-
ing welcome the students gave to
ACE
officials. “The spirit of the children is
always wonderful; itʼs what our children
are taught every day in the school.” At the
end of the day, “we have to kick them out
of school because they love the school so
much,” he joked.
That same school enthusiasm was on
display when the
ACE
bus visited St.
Anthony School in Washington Oct. 25.
At the assembly, Whitney Turner, an
ACE
-trained teacher, said “a successful
Catholic school teacher gives herself to
others and Christ.”
“I see God in my kids every day,” she
said. “I have never felt more love and feel truly
blessed.”
Holy Cross Father Lou DelFra,
ACEʼs
spiritual
director, echoed that point, stressing that the best gift
teachers can give is prayer. He also assured the school
community of the prayers of
ACE
staffers who gather
every Monday at the university offices to pray for their
teachers and participating schools.
At a visit to another St. Anthony School in
Milwaukee Nov. 18, Father Scully said the school was
a great example of what is possible when tax incen-
tives, like parental school choice, are applied to Catholic
education.
Kathleen Cepelka, superintendent of Catholic
schools for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, said working
with
ACE
gives the archdiocese the maximum ability to
grow schools.
“Weʼre very proud of St. Anthony,” she said. “Not
just because itʼs the largest Catholic school in the coun-
try, but because it is a place where, on the south side of
Milwaukee, the children and families who participate
in the school are able to experience hope.”
Contributing to this story were Christie Chicoine in
New York, Ricardo Torres in Milwaukee and Maureen
Boyle in Washington
.
Kelly Casella, CapriceMedina and Reggie Baylor of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School
in Baltimore talk with Holy Cross Father Timothy Scully from the University of
Notre Dame and Cristo Rey teacher Lee Imbriano last October. Baltimore was
one stop on a national bus tour promoting the university’s Alliance for Catholic
Education, a teacher-training program.
CNS photo/Tom McCarthy Jr., Catholic Review
The Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic
Education bust tour will visit Resurrection
Elementary School in Pascagoula on Feb.
6 at 10:30 am to present a special award.
16
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
January 31, 2014
