Brian Hartman
1. What was your ACE Site/ school/ grade level/ subject taught?
As an ACEr, I lived in Atlanta and taught at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic H.S., whose lack of resources is most manifest in its personnel shortages. By the end of my two years there, I had taught every level of 9-12 Language Arts along with World History, drama, and Spanish. Having very little experience in the pool and even less ability to sing or dance qualified me for posts as the swim coach and musical co-director. In all seriousness, these were some of the richest experiences I had in Atlanta. I also coached boys' and girls' tennis each spring.
2. In general, how would you describe your ACE experience?
Busy and rewarding. Dynamic and rigorous. I think that ACE's appeal comes in the challenging and, ultimately, fulfilling opportunity to work with young people. I discovered that my students' want for growth and self-expression was insatiable, and this demanded the same of my time. My ACE roommates and I would often arrive home well after dark because of co-curricular activities. We developed projects such as a student literary magazine, retreats, and weekend experiential-learning initiatives about urban poverty. Atlanta is cosmopolitan and has tons to offer, and I met some of my best friends while living there. The city's international flavor is partly responsible for landing me where I am now.
3. What have you been doing since you graduated from ACE?
I have spent the last two years living and working in Bucaramanga, Colombia as a teacher and administrator at a K-12 dual-language school. Our curriculum is arranged so students take some of their classes in English and some in Spanish. I teach 9th and 10th grade English/ Language Arts while serving as the Dean of Students. The reach of my job extends to managing discipline (no corporal punishment in Colombia), directing student activities and special projects, and coordinating the Language Arts department for the elementary, middle, and high schools. For example, in mid-March we celebrated English Night, an evening of interactive ESL activities for parents, and we held our annual book fair, a major fundraiser and the culmination of months of planning. Professional duties have led me to Bogota and Cali in Colombia and will take me to London for a few weeks this summer. I have also found plenty of my own time to travel in Latin America and the Caribbean. Adventurous living through travel keeps me passionate about life. I anticipate staying in Colombian for at least another academic year.
4. How have you stayed connected to ACE?
Because ACE attracts people who share similar values, it also fosters lasting relationships. I emerged from my ACE experience with many lifelong friends, some of whom now work for ACE, others who keep me regularly updated on ACE news, and one—Steve Granados of ACE 10—who lives in Colombia and teaches at my school. Despite living in South America, I feel confident that my well-connectedness to ACE will not diminish over time or long distance.
5. What are the ways in which you continue to serve Catholic education?
Colombia, like most countries in Latin America, has deep roots in Catholicism and a strong Catholic identity as a part of its culture. For this reason, the religious-non-religious dichotomy in institutional identity is not as pronounced as it is in the U.S. Although our school doesn’t operate under the official leadership of the Church, religion and philosophy are required components of our curriculum in accordance with Colombian education laws. Most of my students and colleagues are comfortable discussing matters of faith and questions of religion.
Kathleen Brogan
1. What was your ACE site/ school/ grade level/ subject taught?
To our community's dismay, some people know of our site as ACE St. Petersburg. That is a little bit misleading. According to our community, we were ACE Tampa Bay, but I guess now that is neither here nor there! I taught at St. Joseph Catholic School in Tampa. It is a small but strong spirited Salesian school on the west side of Tampa. I taught sixth grade self-contained (except science), seventh grade social studies, and eighth grade religion - happy with a little bit of everything! You have to be a little crazy to teach middle school.
2. In general, how would you describe your ACE experience?
I am so thankful for my ACE experience. I know that the further I am from my experience the more the memories of the intense challenges of those two years fade. There are still a few names I could never name my children and one that even makes me squirm a little, but my kids were great! I think about them all the time and am so thankful for our time together. As time passes, though, I also grow more and more grateful for the opportunity the ACE program offered me to grow, learn, and experience God's grace and joy. I grew so close to the wonderful people in my community, within the ACE program, at my school, at my community members' schools, and in the wider Catholic community of St. Pete. My ACE experience was awesome in every sense of the word.
3. What have you been doing since you graduated from ACE?
After my time in Florida, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the former post-ACE Ireland program. Through that program I lived and worked in Dublin for a year, teaching at St. Patrick's Teacher's College and in Killinarden, Dublin. Killinarden is a community in Tallaght, a very disadvantaged area outside the city center. The students at Scoil Cro Ro Naofa (Sacred Heart School) live in poverty and the social and economic challenges they face are greater than the typical student body at any US ACE school, so it was really a new kind of challenge for me. My collection of classroom stories from that year are the best, though!
4. What are the ways in which you continue to serve Catholic education?
After my time in Florida and Ireland I was eager to move back close to home and by God's grace I ended up with an incredible opportunity to be part of the leadership team of a new start-up school. The Cristo Rey Network is opening a new school in the DC area next year and I am currently serving there as assistant principal. There is a small start-up team of six of us working to get this school off the ground, so I have been involved in everything, such as recruiting and admitting students, connecting with business sponsors, creating the structural framework for the academic program, and recruiting founding faculty (if anyone is interested . . .!) All those times when I said during ACE, "If I ran a school . . ." are haunting me now, but it is really an incredible adventure of which to be part! I am also lucky enough to have my three youngest siblings still in DC Catholic elementary and high schools, so I remain connected to all kinds of Catholic schools, through help with Confirmation prep, youth group, inclusion movements, and CYO sports.
5. How have you stayed connected to ACE?
It hasn't been that hard! I have so many close friends from ACE who are all over the country doing all kinds of exciting things. I try to keep up with them. There is also an exciting and growing ACE presence in DC now, too. Plus, I think my co-workers have heard more than their share of "ACE," from my sharing all kinds of ACE items such as the recent report on Catholic education. Within the Cristo Rey Network, too, there are ACErs that pop up all over the country – I have met up with former ACErs who are now teachers and administrators at ACE schools in Boston, Indianapolis, Chicago, and New York. As much as ACE has been part of forming my understanding of justice and equity in education, I am sure it will continue to be part of where I go and what I do from here.