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Plush Mary laying down with books in Schroeder's classroom.

Waiting Together: Advent in the Classroom

I have always loved Advent, but the season took on an even deeper meaning once I started sharing it with my 5th-grade students. Experiencing the hope and wonder of Christ’s...

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ACE Teachers singing joyfully during Lessons and Carols at December Retreat 2025

I Can't Wait

“We wait because there’s a promise. There’s a presupposition of something more worth waiting for.” “But I want it now!” is a sentence heard throughout the country this time of...

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Frassati_Twin Cities, Cohort 6

A Meditation on Purpose

Purpose. Calling. Fulfillment. Mission. Whichever word you use, I believe this aspect of one’s life is perhaps the most important there is. When one discovers their purpose, it seems that...

Los Angeles Hike Photo

Here as in Heaven

I regret to say that in my childhood, few paths were less appealing than the one to sainthood. Sainthood, to an 8-year-old learning from Sunday School lessons and black and...

Chicago Frassati Community, Cohort 5

What Comes Next?

How often do we encounter the narrative that we must pay our dues to a major accounting firm, consulting company, or bank by spending “just a couple of years” working...

Maureen Bowling and Andrea Bergener

Where Two or More are Gathered

The Program for Inclusive Education (PIE) has been blessed to work with several schools that sent multiple educators to participate in our 18-credit hour program. When multiple inclusive educators work...

Tulsa at December Retreat

December Retreat Diaries

One of the highlights of my ACE experience, both in my first and second years of teaching, has been December Retreat. After four months of living in community and teaching...