Michelle Hurley | National Shrine of the Little Flower | Detroit | Michigan |
Worship Fusion |
Catholic worship can come in many shapes and sizes — especially across age groups of school kids. Teacher Michelle Hurley worked with her pastor to creatively approach adoration with her littles by fusing praise and worship music with the Real Presence. |
Brenda Sack |
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Belmont |
Michigan |
Poetry in Motion |
While the benefits of learning through rotating stations in the classroom can be exponential, getting the students to perfectly implement the necessary coreographed movements can be a signifcant challenge. Learn from the experts on managing transitions with clues and cues. |
Amy Peters |
All Saints School |
Alpena |
Michigan |
Schoolhouse Rock |
Replicate these memorable Saturday morning teaching tools through song in your classroom. Let it trigger memories, discussion and conversation across a variety of topics and ages. |
Sean Nolan |
West Catholic High School |
Grand Rapids |
Michigan |
Disciplined Discipline |
Discipline is a necessary part of every teacher's classroom experience, but there are ways to ease the process — even when parents and administration need to get involved. |
Anne Iniguez |
St. John Bosco |
Phoenix |
Phoenix |
Fearless Inclusion |
Fear of doing it wrong gets in the way of effective inclusion efforts for nuerodivergent students. How to embrace the beauty of belonging for all kids. |
Isaac Forquer |
St. Cecilia |
Beaverton |
Oregon |
Rocket Science |
Rocket science development is driven by failure — but our culture says perfection is a must. Science teacher Isaac Forquor exemplifies training students on the benefits of effort over perfection. |
Kenneth Jara |
Precious Blood School |
Los Angeles |
California |
Station Rotation |
While the benefits of learning through rotating stations in the classroom can be exponential, getting the students to perfectly implement the necessary coreographed movements can be a signifcant challenge. Learn from the experts on managing transitions with clues and cues. |
Kathy Snowden |
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Belmont |
Michigan |
From Classroom to Home |
It's empowering to know when classroom experiences get replicated at home, especially when related to faith. Classroom prayer tables are a great example of an idea that finds its way to students' homes — in bedrooms, living rooms or any special place for kids and parents to grow in faith together. |
Carrie Wharff |
St John Catholic School |
Fenton | Michigan |
Celebrating Your Community |
Whether it's Catholic Schools week or not, extend the reach of students and school with creative community service projects and the natural conversation connections that come with them. |
Dan Masterton |
Clerics of St. Viator |
Bolingbrook |
Illinois |
Celebrating Vocations |
Prayerful discernment is at the core of any vocation assessment process — religious or otherwise — as we embrace the fact each of us is uniquely unrepeatable in the eyes of God. |
Karl Sieglaff |
St. Augustine Catholic High School | Tucson |
Arizona |
Meeting Students Where They Are |
Leaning on multiple intelligence research, Karl Sieglaff creates lesson plans to engage his students using visual, tactile, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal tactics — breaking the model of teaching to our own learning styles or teaching as we were taught. |
Adrienne Van Norman |
St. Jerome School |
Columbus |
Wisconsin |
Generational Pen Pals |
Go beyond classroom learning with connections across generations as noted by principal Adrianne Van Norman and her Grandbuddy Pen pals for grades 4-6. This concept can extend from Kindergarten through high school as both styudents and grandparents enjoy the sharing of wisdom, time and experience. |
Danielle Iannelli |
St. Viator Elementary School |
Chicago |
Illinois |
Project Runway |
Danielle Iannelli brings out the funk and fun of grammar with an annual Adjective Fashion Show starring her 4th graders who create their own vivid description of their fashionista creations. Grammar doesn't have to be dry and boring and language, activities and creative writing brings it to life. |
Kendra Burns |
Cardinal Gibbons HS |
Raleigh |
North Carolina |
Failure IS an option |
Ideas flow on helping teachers help their students to hold themselves accountable through empowerment, accompanyment and the patience to let them learn through their mistakes. |
Shannon Saxton-Murphy |
St Stanislaus |
Dorr |
Michigan |
Leadership Lookout |
Academic leadership comes in many forms and from many different sources. How do the new realities of Catholic education impact the next generation of leadership? |
Kim Klozik | St. Joseph Catholic School | Detroit | Michigan | Finding and Being an Influencer | Teachers spend all day every day mentoring and supporting students, but what about your needs? Whether or not a formal mentoring process exists at your school, there are many ways to find — and be — people of influence. |
Kate Williams | Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic School | Grand Rapids | Michigan | Faith-based Connections | Catholic schools are unique in their ability to build common connections through faith. Traditions and prayer experiences allow students (and teachers!) to share in vulnerability, hope and values, bringing everyone together in our faith routines. |
Ashley Ezell | St. Francis Xavier Catholic School | Phoenix | Arizona | Brain Space | Teachers aren’t the only ones who need dedicated time to refuel and engage our imagination. Ashley Ezell reminds us that students of all ages can benefit from brain bins and dream labs to explore new possibilities. |
Jennifer Ferrand | St. Benedict the African | Chicago | Illinois | Common Ground | As Catholic schools celebrate the inclusion of more non-Catholics, are we focused on teaching our reality or learning more of theirs? Jennifer Ferrand finds value in everyone learning about each other. |
Mark Ninmer | Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School | University City | Missouri | Saint Madness | Mark Ninmer shares the growing interest in his 8th grade class’ popular YouTube saint competion using the bracket format of March Madness. It brings fun and creativity to a new level. |
Denisse McKinley | Precious Blood School | Los Angeles | California | Community Learning | Creating an environment where learning across topics and skill levels happens best is like leading an exercise class. Denisse McKinley masterfully manipulates location, focus and engagement in a way that facilitates whole class instruction. |
Clara Gust | Zion Lutheran School | Harbor Beach | Michigan | Community Collaboration | Especially in rural areas, everyone wins with collaboration and conversations across the community and other schools to celebrate everything from the holidays to service to inclusion. |
Ranger Olivia | Precious Blood School | Los Angeles | California | School Garden | Innovative electives, such as gardening class, bring a skillset to students through curriculum they wouldn’t otherwise experience. Shout out to school leaders who let teachers take on these creative ideas. |
Jennifer Liniewski | Corpus Christi Catholic School | Holland | Michigan | Prayer Prompts | Building community by applying English writing prompts to prayer experiences. Listen to the stories of transformation teacher Jennifer Liniewski witnessed from student led prayer. |
Christy Wissman | St. Pius X | Edgewood | Kentucky | Everything I do is because of Reading | Books change lives. No matter the grade, the title or the student, great stories inspire discussion and inspiration. Christy Wissman’s power of suggestion taps into the reading passions of Jill and Colleen for a robust discussion of possibilities. |
Noel Aguirre | St. mary’s Catholic School | Griffith | Indiana | Super Friends, Partners, and Buddies, Oh My! | Creating community with deliberate modeling across grades builds trust, faith and family. Explore how fourth grade teacher, Noel Aquirre from Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Griffith, Indiana creates this reality. |
Charles Miller | Saint John’s Preparatory School | Collegeville | Minnesota | Co-Teaching Rocks | Open the door to faith through arts and sciences while expanding personal horizons by partnering with a cross curriculum co-teacher. Learn from Theology teacher Charles Miller’s experience in Collegeville, MN. |
Jaymie Perry | Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School | Grand Rapids | Michigan | Hashtag Homily | Creating lasting connections with how God speaks to us at Mass while helping students engage with their peers. Learn from teacher Jaymie Perry how her students apply what they hear and learn. |
Jill Embry | St. mary’s Catholic School | Griffith | Indiana | The Power of Story Telling | What do movies, books and the Bible have in common and how can we learn our faith through contemporary stories? Hear how 5th grade teacher Jill Embry from Griffith, IN learns something new every year from her students’ observations. |
Sue Alpers | Our Lady of Perpetual Help | Scottsdale | Arizona | One Big Life | As teachers, we can hyper focus on the act of teaching, but for the young people in our classrooms, learning is just one aspect of their complicated lives. Starting with Sue Alper’s experience, let’s talk about the transformative impact on kids when we make room for the Holy Spirit in our classroom. |
Hillary Russel | St. Mary Catholic School | Woodstock | Illinois | What does reading stamina have to do with Adoration? | Connect the dots with prayer and practice across all subject matters while experiencing personal growth as well. Find out how Hilary Russell does it at Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Woodstock, Illinois. |
Sr Elizabeth McAdams | Ursuline academy | Wilmington | Delaware | Leap of faith | It’s scary to lead controversial topics with no clear answers, but hear how it can lead to robust student engagement at all levels with additional research, thought and ideas. Sr. Elizabeth challenges her students with mysteries of the faith. |
Elaine Wagner | Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School | Burlington | Kentucky | Mix & Match | Break up routines and expectations with small group instruction and team building exercises across interests and grades. Teacher Elaine Wagner instigates many new and different learning outcomes with a unique approach to teams. |
Jake Luhn | Newport Central Catholic | Newport | Kentucky | Cultivating the Talent Tree | God grants every person a unique set of gifts and talents. How do we create space in our curriculum for all of those gifts to bloom fully? Hear more from the experience of CEO turned teacher, Jake Luhn, as Jill and Colleen break down training and teaching options. |
Nicole Rewerts | McGill-Toolen Catholic High School | Mobile | Alabama | Troublemaker Triumph | A deeper dive into the power of vulnerability and personal failure stories to bridge faith connections. Hear from Nicole Rewerts from Mobile, AL. |
Tricia Richardson | St. Mary School | Alexandria | Kentucky | Coping Skills for Life’s Limitations | We’ve all experienced failures in life but how do we empower our students to embrace the normalcy of life’s emotional roller coaster — especially our littles? Take a lesson from Tricia’s Richardson’s kindergarten class and apply it all the way through college visits. |
Mary Peach | St. Pius X School | Edgewood | Kentucky | Playful Patterns | The creativity and fun of theme days doesn’t have to end with annual Catholic Schools week or hiomecoming. Mary Peach uses a daily theme to keep her classroom motivated and engaged as she kicks off each day of the week. |
Andrea Bergener | Prince of Peace School | Plano | Texas | Maximizing Manipulatives | Everyone has a memory of a favorite teacher who made it fun to learn — Thanks to the suggestion of Andrea Bergener, we can all be that teacher with the aid of creative manipulatives across any age or subject. |
Don Zengel | St Joseph Elementary School | Cold Spring | Kentucky | Wealth, Pleasure, Power, Honor | Don Zengel challenges his confirmation class around these concepts with a simple, but universal teaching methodology that inspires conversation, introspection and deep thought. |
Jim White | Our Lady of the Lake | St. Joseph | Michigan | Partnering with Parents | Nothing is more stressful than the potential wildcard moments of parent/ teacher conferences. But led by advice from principal Jim White, Jill and Colleen explore ways to build new bridges with parents. |
Karen Poulos | St. Paul | Florence | Kentucky | So You used to Be a Rock Star? | Everyone’s past feeds their present and Karen Poulos leveraged her previous experiences as a personal trainer to inspire new ideas as a middle school religion teacher. How does your past inform your present? |
Kim Paton | Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School | Ionia | Michigan | Cultivating Fruits of Faith | Faith development is never a linear experience. Art, Spanish and religion teacher Kim Paton prompted creative and innovative thoughts with her unique art challenge to students: What if the Holy Spirit was a fruit farmer? |
Kellie Sutherland | St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Schools | Grand Rapids | Michigan | Shepherding Young Perspectives | Advent is the perfect season to wax nostalgia in the classroom while embracing the simple, guiding themes of new life and family love. What are you favorite books and memories? |
Jennifer Kohl | Seton Catholic Prep | Chandler | Arizona | Self Advocates | Speaking up for one’s needs is a critical lifeskill. Explore ways to help our most vulnerable students turn their challenges into strengths with examples from Jennifer Kohl. |
Rachel Gavin | St. Mary’s MS/HS | Paducah | Kentucky | Orchestrated Learning | Customize your classroom environment with deliberate learning structures that keep kids moving and thinking like a well trained orchestra — thanks to Rachel Gavin’s experience. |
Joe Marble | St. Basil Catholic School | South Haven | Michigan | Feasting on the Saints | Understanding the stories of our faith community is a key aspect of connection and inclusion. Saints can be the catalyst for a new and deeper awereness and amazement. Hear how Joe Marble brings Our Lady of Guadalupe to life on her feast day. |
Camille DeLano | St. Basil Catholic School | South Haven | Michigan | Family and Tradition | Principal Camile DeLano uses the Jesse tree to engage her students in a personal connection to our faith history and tradition. Our Catholic lineage reminds us that we all come from somewhere and we are all going somewhere. |
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