Alliance for Catholic Education
As I began my 33rd year in Catholic schools this past year, I searched for a professional development relationship that would breathe new life into my tired mind and body. I did not have to look far. As a Double Domer and a graduate of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) at the University of Notre Dame, I was familiar with another wing of the ACE estate known as the Reform Leaders’ Summit (RLS).
When I received my information packet that included recommended and suggested readings for our first immersion weekend in New Orleans last June, I quickly glanced at the bios of my fellow cohort members and enjoyed reading their diverse educational backgrounds and settings. I spent even more time reading up on the program of speakers for the weekend. Many were national advocates for parental choice in education. A few would be the experts that were the “boots on the ground” in New Orleans who transformed the school district in a matter of months post-Katrina from a typical publicly-controlled, taxpayer-supported school district to one that would forever change the educational landscape with the onset of district-wide charter schools. Although all these names and people interested me, only one person made me do a double take: Professor Anna Egalite from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
What caused this reaction? Anna was my colleague and a fourth-grade teacher at Sacred Heart Interparochial School in 2008-09 in the Diocese of St. Petersburg during my first year ever as a principal. To say I did not know what I did not know is an understatement as to how I survived my first year as principal. What I do know is that when I popped into Anna’s class, I always observed a teacher in full control who totally engaged all learners in a welcoming and inclusive environment. When I would connect with Anna after observing one of her wonderful lessons, I would simply say, “Anna, I’ve got nothing for you. Keep doing what you’re doing!” I knew the best thing I could do for the students in her class was not to get in her way. So I stayed out of the way and let Anna lead.
Anna’s leadership has led to a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas and a tenured-track position at NC State. Her students then and now have been blessed by her vocation. As for me, I am grateful that Anna and I have crossed paths once again. Anna took her God-given gifts and pursued a Ph.D. and an academic career where she has become a national expert on educational attainment that can be secured through parental choice.
My journey, much different than Anna’s, has brought me to three Catholic elementary schools and three Catholic high schools, mostly within the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida. I am now the director of campus ministry at Clearwater Central Catholic High School, and the time with Anna and the other speakers at the New Orleans weekend intensified my desire to step back up as a school leader in the near term. I am grateful that the Reform Leaders’ Summit and the 14th cohort was the conduit utilized this past summer to interact with a former colleague and to be introduced to new ones as well. The Reform Leaders’ Summit truly is what this career educator needed to breathe new life into a now re-energized mind and body.