august07 - National Catholic Educational Association

Dear Catholic Secondary School Educator:
This is the August 2007 edition of ENews – the “Back to School Issue”. This newsletter is a regular update of information designed to support the ministry of the Catholic high school, a service provided for you by the Secondary Schools Department of the National Catholic Educational Association. This newsletter highlights programs and events focusing on and supporting administrators, educators and students. We hope you find this information helpful.

For your convenience, this ENews is arranged under the following headings:
NCEA News and Professional Development Opportunities
Member Question: Pastoral Care of Students
Resources for Your School/Professional Development
Curriculum Resources
Grants
Secondary Schools Staff

Please visit us on the Web at /departments/secondary/

If you wish to read a hard copy of ENews, please click "Print this page" at the bottom of this Web page.

NCEA NEWS &
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

REGIONAL MEETINGS
Beginning in October, Sr. Mary Frances Taymans, SND, the Executive Director of the Department, attends 16 regional meeting each school year to discuss issues of regional and national interest. Be on the lookout for information about the meeting in your region. Click on the following for dates and locations: /departments/secondary/schedule.asp

Please consider bringing a faculty member with you to the regional meeting. This year many of the meetings will include a parallel meeting for campus ministers and religion teachers to discuss and distribute gratis a new resource on Catholic Social Teaching by NCEA and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Check with your Regional Representative for details.

CREATING SCHOOLS THAT LEARN: Instructional Leadership Conference
November 15-17, 2007, Chicago, Illinois
Sponsored by the Center for Catholic School Effectiveness, Loyola University Chicago and the NCEA Secondary Schools Department

This conference will use current research, demonstrated best practices and participant dialogue to explore the key components of vibrant 21st century Catholic schools.

Topics will include:

• Learning culture (vision, leadership, professional leaning communities,data)
• Organizational support (time, roles and designated responsibilities)
• 21st century curriculum and instruction (essential learning, assessment, personalization)
• Role of technology

For more information, contact:
The Center for Catholic School Effectiveness, School of Education, Loyola University Chicago, Phone: 312.915.6947. email: ccse@luc.edu or visit: www.luc.edu/ccse

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
Be on the lookout for your membership renewal packet. There are two types of membership in the Secondary Schools Department – Regular and Premier. If you are not a Premier Member now, please consider renewing this fall at that level. Among the benefits of Premier Membership: your school will have five more subscriptions to all NCEA and Secondary Schools Department publications (like this ENews!). If you have any questions about your membership, please contact the Member Services Department at 202-337-6232 or via email: member@ncea.org. Most important – thanks to ALL of our members for your support and involvement!

SEEKING & SUSTAINING LEADERSHIP: A CONVERSATION WITH CURRENT AND EMERGING CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
February 20-22, 2008, San Antonio, Texas
This conference is dedicated to fostering new leadership in the Catholic high school. Fr. James Heft, SM, of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California, will lead the discussion. Please contact nceasec@ncea.org to be placed on a mailing list.

NCEA NATIONAL CONVENTION
March 25-28, 2008, Indianapolis, Indiana. Click here for more information: /events/ConventionExposition.asp

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MEMBER QUESTION: PASTORAL AFFAIRS

Saint Francis High School in Sacramento, California, is exploring the creation of a new administrative position: a vice president/assistant principal for pastoral affairs responsible for the religion department, campus ministry, service and anything to do with the pastoral care of students. The president of St. Francis, Marion Bishop, is interested to hear about the experiences of other schools that may have such an administrator. Please contact her at: mbishop@stfrancishs.org.

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The following links and programs are for your consideration. Inclusion on this list does not constitute an endorsement of any particular program or resource

RESOURCES FOR YOUR SCHOOL/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

FREE SAT AND ACT PREPARATION RESOURCE
eKnowledge LLC announced that it will continue the donation of its $200 SAT and ACT Test Preparation programs to all Catholic high school students for a second year. Last year, eKnowledge and a group of NFL Players donated more than $10 Million worth of their $200.00 SAT and ACT Test Preparation programs to every Catholic high school student nationwide. Click here for more information about these interactive video CD/DVD programs and information on how to request one of the donated programs.

Because of the rise of eBay and other re-selling venues, eKnowledge & VSG have agreed to not allow bulk shipments of these programs to schools or areas. They ask that any parent or individual student that desires the program, to simply request it online or by phone. The student only need pay shipping and handling ($9.95). This link takes users directly to the Web page with the donation code already encoded. Please distribute this information to your students and parents as you see fit.

The 2008 Inspiration Awards and the Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing
Applications Now Being Accepted for Two Prestigious Awards: The College Board seeks applications for its 2008 Inspiration Awards and Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing. The Inspiration Awards celebrate America’s most improved high schools, awarding the three winning schools $25,000 each. The Bob Costas Grants recognize six exceptional teachers of grades 6 through 12 for the innovative methods they use to develop their students’ writing skills. Grants of $3,000 will be awarded to each winner. Application deadlines for both programs are November 16, 2007.
Inspiration Award-winning schools improve the academic environment and help students achieve the promise of a higher education. Winning schools initiate unique programs and create partnerships among teachers, parents, community organizations and local businesses to help more students attend college.
The Inspiration Awards are open to all secondary schools (public and nonpublic) in which 40 percent or more of the students receive free or reduced-price lunches.

Schools should be able to demonstrate significant and consistent growth across the entire student population in:
---Participation in rigorous curricula, such as the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) or International Baccalaureate (IB);
---Participation in college-preparatory course work; and
---The percentage of students accepted to two- or four-year institutions of higher education.

EMERGENCY AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT
The Emergency Response and Crisis Management Technical Assistance Center (http://www.ercm.org/) is a service of the federal Department of Education to assist schools with emergency planning. Visit the site to help update your existing plan, or prepare a new plan.

CONSTITUTION DAY
September 17 is the anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution. The US Congress has mandated that schools teach about the Constitution of that day. Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, Florida , shared with NCEA a creative approach to celebrating Constitution Day:

In 2006, teams of students from Our Lady of Lourdes Academy presented lessons on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to approximately 450 students in grades 5-8The Lourdes students adopted this project as part of an A.P. Government class under the leadership of their teacher, Rosie Heffernan. Mrs. Heffernan, who serves on the National Congressional Advisory Commission for Civic Education, has worked with her students in organizing 90 minute lessons for presentation in twenty Miami-area elementary classrooms. Since the response to the Lourdes experiment has been overwhelming, they hope to continue and expand their Constitution Day project this year.

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CURRICULUM RESOURCES

THINKFINITY.ORG
Thinkfinity.org offers more than 55,000 free educational and literacy resources. (This was formerly known as MarcoPolo.)

FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATION EXCELLENCE (FREE)
The Federal Resources for Education Excellence Web site (http://free.ed.gov) contains hundreds of teaching and learning resources for educators arranged by subject area and subgroups within each category for easy searching.

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES EDUCATOR'S PAGE
CRS Education: Going Global with Youth (http://education.crs.org/) is a gateway to lesson plans, simulation activities, prayer services, stories, web links and opportunities that looks at global issues through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. Use this resource to invite young people to see the world with new eyes and to challenge them to respond to our faith call to global solidarity.

EDUCATION FOR JUSTICE
The Education for Justice Project promotes outreach and education throughout the U.S. on Catholic Social Teaching and social justice issues. The Project provides extensive resource materials, presentations, training and consultations to Catholic high schools and others. There is a fee to subscribe to the site.

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GRANTS

GRANT DATABASE
For a detailed list of grants available to educators that is updated each week, please visit www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp. Please note, some grants are not available to private schools.