Mission, TX
The Mission community is comprised of two second-year ACE teachers and three first-year ACE teachers serving at these schools: Immaculate Conception School, Our Lady of Sorrows School, and St. Joseph School.
Mission Community – Vanessa, Allison, Joe, Matt, and Jessica
Jessica Maciejewski
University of Notre Dame, 2006, English & Music Performance
Immaculate Conception, MS Language Arts
Vanessa Garza
St. Mary’s University (SA), 2005, Biology
Our Lady of Sorrows, MS Science
Joseph O’Brien
University of Notre Dame, 2007, History
Our Lady of Sorrows, 6th – 8th Grade Social Studies
Matt Hughes
University of Notre Dame, 2007, Theology
Immaculate Conception, 4th Grade
Allison Smith
University of Notre Dame, 2007, American Studies
St. Joseph Catholic School, 5th – 8th Grade Social Studies
Mission House
What is unique about your community?
Our community is comprised of 5 people who live in “Casa de Guadalupe,” a house donated to the Brownsville Diocese. We have a huge
sign on our house that makes people think we’re a donation site- it’s like our own personal Salvation Army site. We also live 1 block from
the H.E.B. (grocery store) and can thus race our shopping carts down the street back to the house; they have a truck that goes around and
picks up shopping carts from the lawns of nearby houses daily. We’re two blocks from the Ice House, a local bar amidst all the houses that
has Euchre tournaments on Wednesdays and karaoke on Fridays, with loads of local regulars. Ice House is owned by BigFoot.
Schools served in McAllen, Rio Grande City, and Edinburg
Our Lady of Sorrows School
St. Joseph Catholic School
Immaculate Conception
St. Joseph Catholic School
Our Lady of Sorrows
Immaculate Conception
Provide a brief description of Mission:
Mission, Texas, is the home of the Grapefruit, the Citrus Fiesta, and the Butterfly Festival. We also are home to Tom Landry, former Dallas
Cowboy’s coach, and Kika de la Garza, a famous baseball player. It’s in Hidalgo County and has +45,000 people. Check it out!: http://www.missiontexas.us/
What do you like most about Mission?
Mission itself is smallish, but has a beautiful nature running/biking trail that’s 6+ miles long as well as all the conveniences one might
need, as well as a sweet dollar theater and free local pools. There’s a local coffee bar called Jitterz that has live music some nights and art
shows. I love that we’re close to McAllen, a huge town with everything we could possibly need. The nightlife is terrific, and we’re 20 minutes
from Progreso, a touristy but fun Mexican town just over the border. In addition, we’re under an hour from South Padre Island, and thus have
excellent access to the Coral Reef Lounge, home of karaoke. Being on the border gives life a different flavor and prompts many opportunities
to use Spanish and explore Mexico more in-depth.
