Alliance for Catholic Education
PATH Rising Teacher Blogs
More Than a Schedule: A Day of Teaching, Community, and Faith
Ava Blonigen
6:00:
I get ready in my room, pray and reflect, make coffee for the other girls in the house, and prepare for my busy day. This might look like reviewing my class materials or lesson plans, or it could be preparing for the other activities throughout the day.
7:00
After walking to the classroom, the whole team of Rising Teachers meets to discuss the day. This begins with prayer reflection, last minute updates, and overall check-ins on activities for the day.
7:15
Everyone heads off to their classrooms to set up for their lessons. This can include printing graphic organizers, running through the lesson, writing notes on the board, and grabbing all of the necessary supplies for the day. This may also include preparing for PATime, Make it Meaningful, and God in All Things.
8:00
The teaching staff meet at the bus stop and welcome the buses of PATHfinders (students) to lead them to the cafeteria for breakfast- a time for Rising Teachers to connect with students before the day.
8:25
After breakfast, PATHfinders prepare for Raise the Roof. The Rising Teachers review the theme of the week (known as a root belief, and then the character strength that students focus on.) Then the kids play a game that connects to that theme. For example, one of the root beliefs is “We’re Better Together” with the character strength being Teamwork! So, for one of the Raise the Roof activities, they played telephone to focus on communication. After the activity, students are dismissed to classes.
8:40
Students go to their first period. Because I taught later, this was great prep time to set up the classroom.
9:30
Students go to their second period. This was my partner teacher’s teaching hour. She taught reading, so the lessons consisted of short stories, diving into the elements of a story, and more! While she teaches, I help with classroom management, hand out supplies, and make sure things run smoothly.
10:20
Students are released, and on their way to their 3rd period, they grab a snack and go to the next classroom. This hour is a great chance for me to load up on supplies and prepare for my lesson.
11:10
Students are released for the fourth period, where I teach writing. I line them up outside of my classroom and lay out what they will work on in my class. Then, I guide them into the room. The lesson starts with a beginning activity, usually a journal prompt. Next we pray and start the lesson. The lesson usually begins with a short lecture, a practice activity, and ends with group work and independent practice.
12:00
After my lesson, I release them for lunch. They pray together then eat with a rotation of Rising Teachers often eat with them to build community.
12:30
PATHfinders are released to their electives. I taught journalism, and by the end of the program, they had created a newspaper together to share!
1:15:
The kids are released to the gym and separated to go to their PATime activity. Rising Teachers split up and bring their group to the assigned location. These activities can include friendship bracelets, trivia, basketball, volleyball, and karaoke.
1:45:
All of the PATHfinders line up and walk to the small stage for Make it Meaningful. They watch a short funny skit, and a Rising Teacher revisits how it relates to the strength and overall belief of the week!
2:05
PATHfinders are led to the chapel for a reflection called God in All Things. This can include reviewing a song, Bible story, or testimony that allows students to dive deeper into the root belief and character strength. It allows our participants to dive deeper into how God works in our daily lives. Following this reflection, the Rising Teachers take turns giving shoutouts to various students who were seen standing out throughout the day.
2:40
The Rising Teachers take a small group of students (their "BnB group") for further reflection and connection with students who you may not teach directly.
2:55
PATHfinders head home while Rising Teachers wave them goodbye!
3:00
Rising Teachers take a short time to tidy their classrooms and reset a bit for the next day. Then they all meet to discuss positives/negatives and information for the next day. The day ends at 4 p.m. and the rest of the night is for fellowship, lesson prep, and more.
PATH Rising Teacher Blogs
Be Someone’s Smile: The Pursuit of PATH-iness
Luis Jimenez
What memory do you recall from middle school? Is there one specific moment that rises above the rest? What feeling does it invoke?
For some, the answer comes easily: a favorite teacher, a class project, or maybe a spark of curiosity that lit something inside. For others, it might be harder to pinpoint. However, the question is not just what we remember; it’s why. Why did that moment matter? Why did that teacher stand out?
I ask you this same question as you consider the path of teaching: why do you want to take on this responsibility? Teaching is not simply a job, it’s a vocation- one rooted in service and a commitment to the common good. Teaching is a chance to shape lives, to guide young minds, and to be a source of light in someone’s day.
If you can’t recall a defining classroom memory, let that be your motivation to create one for your students. Be the reason a student feels seen, valued, and capable. Be someone’s smile. Be the reason they are excited to learn. When you approach teaching with that mindset, everything else begins to fall into place.
When I started teaching over the summer for the ACE Summer PATH program, I had no prior classroom experience. I was nervous, unsure if I could truly make an impact. I quickly realized that teaching isn’t about perfection, it’s about patience. Every day, I walked into the classroom with a simple goal: to make my students feel welcome. I wanted them to see our classroom as a safe haven, a place where they could leave their troubles behind and focus on growing, laughing, and learning.
I still remember one student who was struggling to understand a concept. At first, I wasn’t sure how to reach him. But instead of just pushing him harder, I tried to listen. We started setting small goals together and celebrating even the tiniest wins. Over time, he began to open up and was able to piece the material to full comprehension. This reminded me that teaching is made up of moments like these- quiet, genuine breakthroughs that no test score can measure.
Through that experience, I discovered the quiet joy that comes from connecting with students. It was in the small moments such as a student grasping a difficult concept, a burst of laughter during a group activity, or a shy “thank you” at the end of class, that I felt an impact. Each of those moments reminded me that teaching is as much about listening and caring as it is about Instruction.
Patience became my most important tool. Some days were challenging, but those were often the days that taught me the most. I learned that progress isn’t always immediate, but it is always worth the wait.
Now, fast forward almost seven years later. Those same sixth graders I once taught are now receiving their college acceptance letters or beginning their first year of college. It’s surreal to think that the same students who once filled my classroom with questions, laughter, and energy are now stepping into the next chapter of their lives. Knowing that I played even a small role in their journey, that I helped spark confidence, curiosity, or belief in themselves, is one of the most powerful feelings I’ve ever experienced.
To anyone thinking about becoming a teacher: remember that you hold the power to shape memories, to build confidence, and to spark curiosity that lasts a lifetime. The classroom is not just a place to teach but rather it is a place to inspire.
So go ahead, be someone’s smile. You never know the difference it might make!
PATH Rising Teacher Blogs
Think of Teaching Less as a Career, More as a Purpose
Michael Hanisch
In the fall of my freshman year of college, I had a conversation with a friend that changed my life. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. He asked me a simple question: “What do you want to do after college?”. I didn’t have any kind of concrete answer for that question then, and I don’t have much of a concrete answer for that question now, even as I sit here 3 years into a career as a high school teacher. But what I do have now, as a teacher, is a new lifestyle which, while difficult and exhausting, surrounds me with good people and good purpose, and it was in my time as a PATH Rising Teacher that I learned that I could live happily with this lifestyle and without an answer to the career question.
The friend who asked me what I wanted to do with my life happened to have just finished interning as the first ever PATH Rising Teacher, and when I told him I didn’t know what I wanted to do, he told me about the internship. I didn’t really see “teacher” as my future career then, and it might sound strange, but I don’t see it as my “career” even now. What I experienced and learned as a PATH intern is that dedicating yourself to teaching allows you to forget the need to label yourself with a career. Teaching feels less like a career that defines who you are as a professional adult and more like a purpose that capitalizes on and enriches who you are already: a purpose to give of yourself to others, a purpose to bring fulfillment to yourself, and a purpose to give yourself confidence that the effort you expend each day is contributing to the good.
What I remember from PATH is not that I built skills and made connections to set me up for a career, though I certainly did both. What I remember is a community of people together doing a good thing. I remember the students – their joy and receptivity to what I was trying to teach them, the poems they wrote, the projects they created, their enthusiasm. I remember the other PATH interns there in Tucson with me – us swimming together, hiking together, playing basketball, volleyball and soccer together. I remember the adult leaders, who genuinely wanted to help us become better teachers and feel more like a part of Tucson and of the team. All of these things – working for kids in whom you see light and potential and working with other like-minded adults who share your values and want also to give of themselves to do good – make you forget that you are doing a “job.” You feel, instead, a purpose.
If someone came up to me today and asked me, “What do you want to do with your life?”, I still couldn’t give them a concrete response, but what I could say is that I’ve been teaching since PATH, and my students, coworkers, and the nature of my work give me an orientation of purpose every day that is enough to convince me to dedicate my daily efforts to being the best teacher I can. So even if you don’t see yourself as a career teacher – if that sounds scary or you don’t want to commit to that occupation – I would say this: if you desire to feel like the work you are doing is bringing goodness into the world, if you want purpose in your life, try, even if it’s just for one summer, living with the orientation of purpose that teaching can give.
