ACE Welcomes New Teachers with Weekend Retreat
The Alliance for Catholic Education welcomed its newest cohort of ACE teachers to the Notre Dame campus last month in celebration and anticipation of their service to Catholic schools to begin this summer. The late April weekend’s retreat—-themed “Come and See”—-gave the incoming cohort of 90 ACE teachers, known as ACE 16, the opportunity to meet and pray with one another for the first time since their acceptance into the ACE Service Through Teaching program. Over 40 Catholic school superintendents and principals from around the country also attended the retreat to help welcome ACE 16 into the archdioceses and schools in which they will serve, and into the broader Catholic education community.
Julie Garcia is one of the ACE 16 teachers preparing for her two-year journey through the ACE Service Through Teaching program. Julie, who majored in American Studies at Notre Dame, will be teaching 2nd grade at St. Ann in Prairie Village, Kansas next year. As a member of the ACE Kansas City community, she’ll live with 4 other ACE teachers, two of which will be in their 2nd year of ACE service. She says her experience at the opening ACE 16 retreat has given her much to be hopeful about and excited for as she enters into her first ACE summer and academic year.
“The part that I enjoyed most about April retreat was just getting to know the other teachers in informal settings like sharing meals with them or going on a scavenger hunt with them. It was great to meet so many people who are excited like me about service through teaching. The retreat also made me focus more on the community aspect of my future in ACE, and how exciting it will be to get to know my housemates and share the experience with them through both the struggles and joys of teaching,” she shares.
Kevin Veselik, another Notre Dame senior entering ACE 16, found that the prayer experiences during the April retreat were great signs of the spiritual growth that ACE will foster. “I think the spiritual pillar of ACE will be one of the best parts of my ACE experience. We have only spent a weekend together as ACE 16, but I can tell that my classmates and my housemates will help me grow in and live out my faith every day,” he says.
Both Julia and Kevin also mention that one of the joys of the weekend retreat was helping to host the members of ACE 16 who are not Notre Dame students, but came in from dozens of colleges and universities throughout the country to be welcomed into the program. As ACE aspires to be leading provider of talent and resources for Catholic schools, it has successfully recruited recent college graduates from prestigious schools across the nation. Over 30 colleges and universities are represented by the incoming cohort this year, although virtually none of the ACE 16 teachers have studied education. Instead they will begin a rigorous Masters in education (M.Ed.) program at Notre Dame this summer and engage in student teaching in South Bend area summer school programs, in preparation for their tenure as full-time classroom teachers in their ACE schools.
For now, however, ACE 16 has dispersed to their various colleges and universities to enjoy the final weeks of their undergraduate experience, knowing that ACE is eager to have them back at Notre Dame and rekindling the excitement and hope they radiated in their first days as a community during the retreat.
“We experienced a grace-filled and fruitful weekend,” said Amy Seamon, Senior Associate Director for Pastoral Formation and Administration for ACE. “We are really excited about the new ACE 16 teachers. They are full of life and energy!”
