Alliance for Catholic Education
We are so excited to introduce this year’s blog team! To help you get to know these seven bloggers, we asked them to complete a brief Q&A to introduce themselves. You’ll hear more from them during the year about their classes, their community and their spirituality, but for now please get to know each blogger below!
Sydney Brown (ACE 30, Baton Rouge – 2nd Grade)
Sydney is from Roy, Utah. She attended the University of Notre Dame where she studied psychology.
What is your favorite thing to do in your ACE city?
I love searching for gators and armadillos. I'm from Utah, so both of those animals seemed SO far removed from me before moving to Baton Rouge! I once saw a gator while one of my community members was fishing, and then again on the side of the road while driving on the highway, and have been absolutely OBSESSED with trying to spot more. I really have only ever seen them in Texas Roadhouse coloring books so I know when I see one I will feel joy unlike I ever have before. I also enjoy more traditional Baton Rouge classic activities, from 'following the horns' (trying to find any spots with live Jazz music), getting coffee at Highland Coffee and then exploring LSU, swamp tours, crawfish boils, pickleball, basketball, and occasionally a good trip to the beach.
What is you favorite song to play for your students in the classroom?
This is a silly answer, but my favorite song to play for them is Banana, Banana, Meatball. If you don't know what that song is, are you even living?! But seriously, it's a great break for the kids, teaches them about patterns while allowing them some time to move, they get to see role models who look like them, and it's just super enjoyable every once in a while to get to see the kids dancing around and just having fun. (and I won't lie... I love to join in, too!) :)
Tyler Johnson (ACE 30, Philadelphia – HS Math)
Tyler hails from Willmar, Minnesota. He graduated from Saint John’s University with a degree in mathematics and a minor in secondary education.
If you could have any celebrity in your class, who would it be and why?
Bobby Flay - he could do a cooking demo and relate it to math content. Plus it would be a great advertisement for the cooking club. He's my hero.
What is the most memorable experience you had in the classroom this past year?
My entire 1st period broke out into song and dance to Can't Take My Eyes off of You by Ms. Lauryn Hill during work time and it was magical.
Grace Scartz (ACE 30, San Jose – MS ELA)
Grace attended University of Notre Dame and studied global affairs and Arabic. She is originally from Grayson, Georgia.
What is your favorite song to play for your students in the classroom?
My students always asked for any and all Taylor Swift, but I also love to play songs in different languages.
If you could have any celebrity in your class, who would it be and why?
I would bring in Michelle Obama! She would help my students see their potential and realize the importance of school.
Megan Greive (ACE 30, Indianapolis – HS Science & Math)
Megan has a chemical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame. She is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.
What is the most memorable experience you had in the classroom this past year?
One of the most memorable experiences was making pancakes with my math students to celebrate finishing their AP exam.
What is your favorite thing to do in your ACE city?
I love to walk, run, or ride my bike on one of Indy's many bike paths around the city.
Marc Barnes (ACE 30, Washington, DC – 4th Grade)
Marc Barnes hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a Notre Dame graduate where he studied sociology and gender studies.
If you could have any celebrity in your class, who would it be and why?
If I could have any celebrity in my class it would be Jon Batiste because he is from my home city of New Orleans (We went to the same high school!) and my students love music. I think the scholars and myself would love to hear his story and maybe play a little piano.
What is your favorite thing to do in your ACE city?
My favorite thing to do in Washington DC is trying out new places to eat. There are so many different places that represent so many different cultures, just like DC. So far my favorite spot is a Jamaican restaurant called Jerk at Nite.
Mike Hanisch (ACE 30, Chicago – HS English)
Mike is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mike went to Notre Dame for his undergraduate degree where he studied in the Program for Liberal Studies and minored in computer and digital technologies.
What is your favorite thing to do in your ACE city?
Taking a walk from our ACE house to the lakefront and then up the riverwalk into downtown Chicago.
What is the most memorable experience you had in the classroom this past year?
My students tried to teach me how to dance bachata, and I taught them how to Irish river dance, or at least my own version of Irish river dancing.
Molly Schroeder (ACE 30, Miami – MS Social Studies)
Molly graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in economics and a minor in computer science. Molly is from La Mesa, California.
What is your favorite song to play for your students in the classroom?
At the end of the day on Friday, I played “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men and my students would do their best boy band impressions to end the week.
What is the most memorable experience you had in the classroom this past year?
I taught personal finance to my students and had them play a budgeting version of the Game of Life. It was incredibly fun to see my students think through saving, spending and investing together and learn how to use money in the real world.
Outside of the classroom, my 7th grade homeroom students choreographed and performed an incredible Afrobeats version of “Mary Did You Know,” that brought the house down in our Christmas pageant.