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UST GRACE Program Begins Second Year
6/23/2009
 Building on the success of its first year, the University of St. Thomas Gulf Region Academy for Catholic Education (GRACE) program welcomed its second cohort of education graduate students the weekend of June 5.
The GRACE students will live in the Rev. William J. Young apartments on the UST campus over the summer while completing four graduate courses in teacher education. In August they will move into housing provided by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston as they begin teaching in area Catholic schools. For the next two years, they will live in community while simultaneously finishing a master’s degree in Catholic education, teaching in a Catholic school, and deepening their spiritual lives.
“With this second cohort we are realizing the advantages of all the systems we put in place and learned in the first year of the program,” said Dr. Robert LeBlanc, dean of the School of Education and GRACE program director. “We are very encouraged by what the GRACE students have accomplished in the first year, how they have developed spiritually, professionally, and how they have supported each other. The first cohort has proven to be a real asset and support system to the new students in second cohort as they move into the program.”
Often described as the “Catholic version of Teach for America,” GRACE is a partnership between UST and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. GRACE is a member of the University Consortium for Catholic Education, an alliance of 14 universities which offer similar programs including University of Notre Dame, Boston College, University of Portland, Seton Hall, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola University Chicago, Valparaiso University, Christian Brothers University.
Dr. George Laird, associate superintendent of Catholic Schools of Archdiocese of Houston-Galveston, applauded the success of program’s first year, and looks forward to working with a new class of future Catholic educators. Laird will teach one of the GRACE courses on Catholic education.
“In this first year, all of the students have done a tremendous job teaching in our Catholic schools,” Laird said. “The GRACE students truly demonstrated leadership not only in the classroom, but they also provided spiritual leadership, and they went above and beyond to become involved in extracurricular activities.”
For the second year of the program, LeBlanc said there have been some additions to the student accommodations and available courses. Following the completion of their summer courses, GRACE students will live in community at either Our Lady of Mt. Carmel or St. Pius V. Based on recommendations of existing programs at other universities, students from Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 will be split into the two communities, enabling first year students to benefit from living with second-year students. Cohort 2 students will also have the offered additional courses in Educational Leadership from the onset of the program.
“The importance of the community living aspect of the GRACE program has become more apparent over the last year,” LeBlanc said. “Ten years from now, I think the students will reflect on the unique opportunity to live in community with other students committed to Catholic education.”
Cohort 2 members include three graduates of the University of St. Thomas -- Lauren Chevalier, Geoffrey Garza and Grover Green. Other members include Laura Garwood, Princeton University; Lauren Barnes, University of Dallas; Amelia Galiunas, University of Bristol, England, and Joel Garcia, University of Houston.
Galiunas was studying theology at the University of Bristol in England when she learned about the ACE program at Notre Dame. She ultimately chose to enroll in the GRACE program because it would enable her to return to the United States, and live and work in Houston, close to her family.
“I was drawn to the GRACE program because I was trying to decide how I could use my passion for theology to make a difference in the world,” Galiunas said. “I am pursuing a career in Catholic education because I believe that the goal of Catholic education is to educate the whole person, and not to simply prepare students for an exam, for college, or for a career. I hope that by eventually being able to teach theology in Catholic schools, I can help students to understand their faith so they can really make it their own.
“This program is a way to pursue teaching as a vocation while living in community with others who have that same calling and who are united by the same goals. We will have the additional support from within the cohort and from professors to help navigate what is often considered to be a trying profession,” Galiunas said.
Cohort 2 members are currently awaiting their fall teaching assignments, but LeBlanc said there is a likelihood of job placements at Corpus Christi Elementary School and St. Cecilia. Last year, Cohort 1 students were placed at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima in Texas City and Holy Rosary in Rosenberg.
Shown back to front, left to right: Grover Green, Amelia Galiunas, Geoffrey Garza, Joel Garcia, Lauren Chevalier, Lauren Barnes and Laura Garwood.
Visit the GRACE Web site.
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