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Center for Literacy Education names ‘A Wish in the Dark’ 2023 Alexandria Award winner

2023-12-06T10:00:00-05:00

Christina Soontornvat’s “A Wish in the Dark,” a fantasy novel that examines issues of privilege, protest and justice, has been named the 2023 Alexandria Award winner by the Center for Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame.

The Alexandria Award recognizes a middle grade or young adult book that advances Gospel values through the positive actions and portrayals of tenacious adolescents. It is named for St. Catherine of Alexandria, an adolescent Christian of the fourth century who was an eager student and a famed orator.

“A Wish in the Dark” tells the story of Pong, a child born and raised in a prison, and Nok, the prison warden’s daughter who is determined to track down Pong after his escape. In this Thai-inspired twist on “Les Misérables,” both children come to question the truths they thought they knew — about their pasts, their city, each other and what they’ve always known to be right and wrong.

“This book has been on the award committee’s radar since the inception of this project because it fits so well with our goals and criteria,” said Michael Macaluso, the founder of the award and an associate teaching professor in the Center for Literacy Education and the Alliance for Catholic Education’s Teaching Fellows program. “Covering topics such as the effects of institutional poverty and unjust incarceration, the relationship between parents and children, and, of course, the role of faith in our lives, this story is filled with opportunities for rich classroom discussion. We look forward to seeing this book taken up more deliberately in classrooms across the country.”

The Center for Literacy Education, which is housed in Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives, created the award to respond to the need for high-quality, highly engaging contemporary books in classrooms and the desire of Catholic school teachers to teach classroom books — classic or contemporary — through a lens of faith and Catholic social teaching.

“I was so thrilled to receive the news that ‘A Wish in the Dark’ was selected for the Alexandria Award, and then was even more honored when I read the criteria used to select books,” Soontornvat said. “All the time I was writing this novel, I kept one question at the top of my mind: What would the world be like if we all gave everyone compassion, equally and freely? It makes me so happy that this was one of the themes that the committee recognized, and it’s a true honor to have the book acknowledged in this way.”

Copies of the book will be given to schools across the country, including local schools in South Bend, Indiana, and will be accompanied by a curriculum insert designed by an expert teacher offering a sample lesson plan — including suggested classroom learning goals, activities and discussion guides for thinking about the book through a lens of faith and Catholic social teaching.

“‘A Wish in the Dark’ was recommended to me for the Alexandria Award by one of my middle school son’s friends who is a voracious reader,” said Kate Schuenke-Lucien, the director of the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, Haiti, and a member of the Alexandria Award committee. “He talked about the characters’ fight for justice and how Soontornvat used the concepts of light and darkness to illustrate the struggles of Chattana’s residents between good and evil. ‘A Wish in the Dark’ takes complicated ethical issues and brings them to life in a way that immerses and engages young readers.”

St. Catherine is the patron of students, librarians and educators, and the award commemorates her youth, bravery, tenacity, enthusiasm for education and her home in Alexandria — the famed location of the Great Library. St. Catherine boldly defended the faith and protested injustices of her time, including the persecution of Christians. Her efforts led to the conversion of hundreds of people before she was martyred at 18.

Previous winners of the Alexandria Award are “When Stars Are Scattered” by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson, and “Scythe” by Neal Shusterman.

Classroom copies of “A Wish in the Dark” can be requested using this link while supplies last.

Notre Dame receives AmeriCorps grant to support TutorND

2023-09-13T12:46:00-04:00

The University of Notre Dame has received a $640,000 grant from AmeriCorps that will allow it to continue serving children in the South Bend area and in schools working with the Alliance for Catholic Education.

The award will be used to recruit, train and support 500 volunteers, who will use Cognition Connection, a comprehensive and flexible learning design hub that connects tutors with the cognitive science of learning.

One of the largest initiatives benefiting from the award, TutorND, recruits and trains tutors in evidence-based tutoring practices and then connects them with students in the Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties Head Start Consortium, children in the Boys and Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County and the Robinson Community Learning Center, students from the South Bend Community 91��Ƶ Corp., and schools served by ACE.

“This generous funding from AmeriCorps will have a transformative impact in South Bend and beyond,” said Nicole McNeil, a professor of psychology, the ACE College Professor at Notre Dame and the director of the University’s Cognition, Learning and Development (CLAD) Lab. “Too many children in our community still lack access to high-quality, structured tutoring. Volunteers are eager to help, but without the right tools and evidence-based resources, even the most motivated tutors find it challenging to make a meaningful impact. By working across the research-practice divide with local schools and community organizations, we’re encouraging a new wave of empowered, effective tutors.”

Before the pandemic, McNeil collaborated with local schools as part of her community-based cognitive science class and her research in the CLAD Lab. Researchers in the lab study cognitive development and how children learn to become mathematical thinkers and skilled readers.

TutorND grew out of this work during the pandemic to provide virtual support for students and has since expanded to in-person and virtual one-on-one and small-group tutoring in the South Bend area and schools served by ACE. The program now works with more than 300 children and relies on instructional materials and methods that have been shown through rigorous research to hold promise for improving student outcomes.

The outcomes so far have been promising. All South Bend elementary students who worked with a tutor in TutorND’s full support program demonstrated growth in oral reading fluency from pre- to post-test, and they nearly doubled the average growth rate expected based on national metrics. Each child in Head Start who worked with a tutor in the full support program improved in school readiness skills. Notably, those receiving the full course of pre-kindergarten tutoring sessions experienced a fourfold growth in print awareness.

“The partnership with TutorND illustrates the positive impact achieved through collaboration among community stakeholders, all working to increase access and opportunity for marginalized youth in South Bend,” said Tessa Sutton, the assistant superintendent of diversity, equity and inclusion in the South Bend Community 91��Ƶ Corp. “AmeriCorps’ sponsorship aligns with our joint objectives: academic excellence, equity, inclusion, justice, economic sustainability and community partnerships to strengthen student learning. Together, we reach more students and families in concrete, meaningful ways. The school and community are one — there is no separation.”

Cognition Connection will expand the existing infrastructure to give tutors a flexible and comprehensive suite of learning design services, including an on-demand learning hub where tutors can interact with expert consultants to troubleshoot specific challenges, attend synchronous and asynchronous professional learning sessions and request evidence-based tutoring plans for specific learning and enrichment goals. TutorND will also continue to offer its high-impact support option, which will provide additional personalized, step-by-step training for assessment and session planning.

“Early education is so important, and we are thrilled to work with Notre Dame to invest in our most vulnerable kids,” said Alcides Argueta, the Head Start program manager at Lafayette Elementary 91��Ƶ. “We’ve witnessed firsthand the incredible bond that forms between our preschoolers and tutors when they use shared book reading techniques based in the cognitive science of learning. Together we’re building a strong foundation for young minds to thrive.”

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides support to community organizations to help them alleviate poverty, expand capacity in organizations and build economic opportunity through community-driven efforts across the country.

Carolyn Woo to speak at ACE Commencement

2023-07-12T16:15:00-04:00

Carolyn Woo, the retired CEO of Catholic Relief Services and former dean of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, will serve as the keynote speaker at 2023 Commencement Ceremony of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday (July 15).

“We are honored that Carolyn will speak to our graduates,” said John Staud, the executive director of ACE. “She has spent her life working to improve the lives of children around the world, a mission that resonates with our graduates and exemplifies our Catholic mission.”

Woo served as CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from 2012 to 2016, guiding the institution as it undertook humanitarian relief and sustainable development in more than 100 countries serving over 100 million people each year. CRS designs and implements more than 1,000 programs annually to reduce poverty, diminish risk and foster prosperity in areas such as emergency relief, micro-finance, health systems, childhood development, education, agricultural productivity, empowerment of women, refugee resettlement and peace-building. Woo was recognized in 2013 as one of 500 of the Most Powerful People on the Planet by Foreign Policy and as one of 30 in the category of A Force for Good.

Woo served as dean of Mendoza College from 1997 to 2011, where she focused on the college’s Catholic identity and built the team and culture to systematically improve teaching, pursue curricula innovations, enhance placement of students and embed ethics in all business disciplines. The college was frequently recognized as the nation’s leading business school in ethics education and research and received the top ranking from Bloomberg Businessweek for its undergraduate business program. Woo was also elected the first female chair of the accreditation association for business schools worldwide and led the launch of the Principles for Responsible Management program with the United Nations.

Woo has served on the boards of corporate enterprises in the United States and Europe covering global risk management, regulated utility, AI-driven socially responsible investing, community banking, retailing, auto components manufacturing and pharmaceutical distribution. In 2018, 2019 and 2021, she coordinated the Vatican Dialogues on Energy Transition, which convened CEOs of energy and investment companies in conversation with each other and the pope. An outcome was a joint statement by participants supporting the need for carbon pricing. Woo is a frequent contributor to “Give Us This Day” and the author of two books, “Working for a Better World” and “Rising: Learning from Women’s Leadership in Catholic Ministries.”

ACE commencement exercises are set for 3:30 p.m. in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Notre Dame will bestow 125 graduate degrees upon the next generation of Catholic school teachers and leaders who completed periods of formation and service in two nationally recognized programs.

Eighty-eight ACE Teaching Fellows graduates will receive master of education degrees as the culmination of two years of academic study combined with teaching in Catholic K-12 schools in underserved areas around the country. Thirty-seven graduates from ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program will receive master of art degrees in educational leadership, concluding 25 months of formation that prepared them to be principals and other leaders in Catholic education.

ACE will also present awards at the ceremony to honor three of its graduates. Dan Reynolds, a member of ACE Teaching Fellows’ 13th cohort and an assistant professor of education at John Carroll University, will receive the Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field. Victoria McBride and Dominic Fanelli will receive the Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education, given to those who graduated between five and 10 years ago and have distinguished themselves in making significant contributions to the ministry of Catholic education. McBride, a member of the 18th cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows, is the vice president of mission at Saint Martin de Porres High 91��Ƶ in Cleveland. Fanelli, a member of the 18th cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows and the 17th cohort of the Remick Leadership Program, is the principal of Benedictine High 91��Ƶ in Cleveland.

Antonio Ortiz to speak at ACE Commencement ceremony

2022-07-06T10:30:00-04:00

Antonio Ortiz, the first lay president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High 91��Ƶ in Chicago and a graduate of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Teaching Fellows program, will serve as the keynote speaker at ACE’s 2022 Commencement Ceremony at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday (July 9).

“We are thrilled that Antonio will join us at commencement,” said John Staud, the executive director of ACE. “He has a deep understanding of our mission, and he’s dedicated his working life to ensuring that children benefit from a Catholic education that enables them to flourish academically and spiritually.”

Founded in 1996, Cristo Rey pioneered the corporate work study program model for inner city education that has since inspired a national network of 38 schools serving traditionally under-resourced communities across the country. Through the innovative program, students fund the majority of the cost of their education by working one day a week at a corporate partner.

Ortiz joined Cristo Rey in 2000, first as the director of corporate and foundation relations and then as associate principal, before becoming president in June 2012. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as a senior director at the Big Shoulders Fund, a nonprofit that supports Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Ortiz graduated from Notre Dame in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in public policy. He was a member of the fifth cohort of ACE teachers, serving in Mission, Texas, and earning a master’s degree in education from Notre Dame. Ortiz has served on the University’s Board of Trustees as its young alumni representative. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University Chicago.

ACE commencement exercises are set for 3:30 p.m. in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Notre Dame will bestow 121 graduate degrees upon the next generation of Catholic school teachers and leaders who completed periods of formation and service in two nationally recognized programs.

Eighty-three graduates of the ACE Teaching Fellows program will receive master of education degrees as the culmination of two years of academic study combined with teaching in Catholic K-12 schools in underserved areas around the country. Thirty-eight graduates from ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program will receive master of art degrees in educational leadership, concluding 25 months of formation that prepared them to be principals and other leaders in Catholic education.

ACE will also present awards at the ceremony to honor three of its graduates. Mary Neville, a member of ACE Teaching Fellows’ 17th cohort and an assistant professor at New Mexico State University’s 91��Ƶ of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership, will receive the Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field. Meaghan Crowley-Sullivan and Dennis Rankin will receive the Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education, given to those who graduated between five and 10 years ago and have distinguished themselves in making significant contributions to the ministry of Catholic education. Crowley-Sullivan, a member of the 18th cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows and the 16th cohort of the Remick Leadership Program, is the curriculum and professional learning developer for the iDEAL Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Rankin, a member of the 17th cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows and the 16th cohort of the Remick Leadership Program, is the principal of St. Peter Catholic 91��Ƶ in St. Paul, Minnesota.