Alliance for Catholic Education
For Stephanie Becker, no step on her journey as a Catholic educator has been alone. As she has worked to become the Academic Dean for Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary School, a Catholic school that is a part of the Partnership Schools Network in New York City, she has found that each stop on her way has been supported by those who inspired Steph to a fuller and more joyful participation in the mission of Catholic education.
As a college student, Steph first imagined a career in politics or educational policy. Yet the example of her mother, an energetic teacher herself, made Steph yearn for the connection to individual students. Steph saw how her mother made an impact on student after student and how her mom tirelessly worked to create a classroom where students not only felt valued and loved, but where they also felt safe to take intellectual risks that would help them grow into the unique and talented people God was calling them to be. With this sort of motivating example, Steph realized that she could do her best work on the ground. She wanted to roll up her sleeves and dive into the day-to-day intricacies of the classroom to connect with students.
She first taught at Notre Dame School of Manhattan, where she felt God's call in her encounters with her students. She taught 9th- and 12th-grade mathematics, an opportunity that allowed her to see students as they started their high school journey and then as the students who emerged after four years of Catholic education. At graduation, she saw the transformation that Notre Dame provided: the "girls" that entered their doors as 9th-graders were now poised young women−women of faith, character and incredible intelligence, ready to go out into the world and make it a better place.
It was at Notre Dame that Steph made the connections that would propel the next leg of her journey. Her mentor teacher, Mary Kate Blaine, modeled drive and initiative. She was, in Steph's eyes, not only a skilled teacher, but also someone who related authentically with students. It was Mary Kate who told Steph about the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program and, as Steph says, changed her life. It was Mary Kate, and the people in the Remick Leadership Program at large, who guided Steph toward her current work at a Partnership School. The Remick Leadership Program gave Steph the confidence and skills to believe in herself and to challenge herself to take the next step in her career. Even now at Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary, not a day goes by that Steph doesn't hear from or connect with her fellow Remick Leaders; they text and email each other, ask questions about how to respond to tricky situations, and collaborate on ways to continually improve their schools.
"Steph works every day to help her students realize the many ways in which they might answer God's call and create the connections that will make a more joyous, more courageous, and more loving world."
It is in these kinds of relationships with people that Steph finds confirmation that she has found the place God has called her to be. She finds these moments of connection each and every day: in the high-fives and hugs she gets monitoring drop-off outside every morning; from teachers who share instructional success stories around a strategy they've been working on; when a student asks her to sit and read together at lunch; and brainstorming with her fellow Remick leaders on a new way to support teachers more fully.
Steph knows well how the connection to a place and to a home can make us feel comfortable, appreciated, safe, and loved. A good home provides the nurturing and support we need to thrive and become our best selves while also giving us the space to discover who we are, to take risks, to question, to be creative, and to pursue not perfection, but excellence. A good home, with all its supportive relationships, allows us to take a step out into the wider world and create more connections, to expand our worldview, and to draw others into our mission.
Every day, Steph remembers the words of Pope Francis as he reflected on Mary, the Lady of Notre Dame: "God's presence in our lives never leaves us tranquil: it always pushes us to do something. When God comes, he always calls us out of our house. We are visited so that we can visit others; we are encountered so as to encounter others; we receive love in order to give love ...This is our most valuable treasure… to learn, like Mary, to leave home and set out on the path of visitation." With the bulwark of her own connections inspiring her and these words in her heart, Steph works every day to help her students realize the many ways in which they might answer God's call and create the connections that will make a more joyous, more courageous, and more loving world.
Interested in joining the next cohort of Remick Leaders? Contact April Garcia at agarcia9@nd.edu and apply today!