BC program heaven sent
Innovative curriculm provides needed teachers to Catholic schools
In a sharply pressed skirt and blouse, Shannon Keating confidently surveyed her seventh-grade social studies class, her heels firmly clicking on the wood floor as she paced before the chalkboard.
A year ago, fresh out of Boston College, Keating was a wide-eyed new teacher at the Gate of Heaven Catholic School in South Boston, leading a classroom for the first time. Now, in her second year, the 24-year-old has learned to keep a keen eye out for the slightest sign of mischief.
"Boys and girls," she said sternly to some fidgety children. "Eyes up here."
Keating is among a dozen BC graduate students in education who are gaining intense on-the-job training in area Catholic schools through an innovative teaching-service program. In exchange for two years of work in Catholic elementary and high schools in the Boston area, students attend BC's Lynch School of Education for free and live together at a former convent in Dorchester.
The Urban Catholic Teaching Corps is throwing a lifeline to struggling Catholic schools in desperate need of young teachers. Part of a national campaign that each year places 400 teachers in Catholic schools, the BC program gives recent college graduates from across the country experience in a parochial setting as they complete their academic training.
"It's introducing a new generation of teachers to an urban setting and creating a pipeline of young teachers to Catholic schools," said Michael J. James, executive director of the Center for Catholic Education at the Lynch School. "We're looking at this for the long-term."
The teaching corps, in its 12th year, also gives service-minded students the financial freedom to pursue a calling they deeply believe in, and to pay back the Catholic schools many attended as children. Students, who eat, pray, and do volunteer work together at the sprawling Dorchester home, are bound by a shared faith and a sense of social responsibility, and see Catholic education as a source of great hope and opportunity for low-income children.
The program appears to be succeeding. Of the nearly 60 graduates of the program, more than half remain in Catholic education, James said.
Sister Patricia McCarthy, principal of Gate of Heaven, which teaches students from preschool to eighth grade, said most full-time teachers at the school have been there for more than 20 years. Younger instructors like Keating, she said, bring an infusion of energy and fresh ideas.
But with starting salaries of just $30,000 a year, Catholic schools find it difficult to attract young teachers, many of whom carry substantial college debt.
"There's no reason you would teach at a Catholic school if you weren't committed to its mission," McCarthy said. The schools pay $12,000 for each student teacher, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston pays for teachers' health insurance.
From its inception, the program has been funded by two well-known benefactors - Boston College trustees Peter Lynch, the famous money manager, and Thomas J. Flatley, a real estate developer who died in May.
McCarthy said the teachers are "a blessing" for schools with narrow financial margins. At Gate of Heaven, enrollment is down considerably from years past, she said, as families have fewer children and residents leave the city for less expensive housing.
In 1995, there were more than 500 students at the school, but today there are only 200.
Competition for the program is steep. Applicants must have a college degree, supervised teaching experience, and a commitment to Catholic education, and less than one in six are accepted.
Students are paired with a veteran teacher for mentoring but are assigned their own classroom from the start.
The program is demanding, with days, which include evening graduate classes, lasting close to 15 hours. That stress leads to a lot of "venting and collaborating" in the Dorchester residence, Keating quipped.
During her first year, she sought guidance from the second-year students. Now, she is returning the favor.
"Your first year as a teacher can be challenging," Keating said. "To come home and have that support is phenomenal."
The residence, which is near Codman Square on a quiet residential street, is vast, with a dozen bedrooms, six offices, and plentiful common space.
Karen Kennedy, who directs the program, said the communal living is pivotal to the teachers' success. Students brainstorm and commiserate about their days, share weekly spiritual discussions, and divvy up household chores.
"It's one of the most powerful parts of the experience," she said.
Students receive a $10,000 stipend, and are urged to live on that modest amount. Most of their students live on less, Kennedy notes.
At a recent afternoon class, Keating passed out roles for "Who Wants To Be A Colonist?" a educational play about the Jamestown settlement. Students mumbled and raced through their lines, nervously laughing in parts. She helped them with words they didn't know and urged them to speak up.
"Project your voice, and no giggling," she said. "And Patrick, tuck in your shirt."
With a sheepish smile, Patrick obliged.
Another boy was daydreaming through most of the play, the booklet closed on his desk. As she made her way around the room, Keating noticed, and went over and whispered to him. He opened the script, and she showed him the right spot.
The next time the students turned the page, so did he.
Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com 