I I 11 - INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY ' S Americorps gives ACE $ 500 , 000 despite cuts

N o tre D a m e ’s A llia n c e fo r C atholic E d u ca tio n (ACE) w as rec e n tly a w a rd e d a $ 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 g r a n t f ro m A m e r ic o rp s , a b ran c h of the C l i n t o n A d m i n i s ­ t r a t i o n ’ s C o r p o r a t io n fo r N a tio n a l Service. L a s t y e a r , N o tre D am e w a s o n e o f 11 u n iv e r s i ­ ties in th e nation chosen from 3 7 0 a p p l ic a n ts to r e c e iv e a g ra n t from th e n ew ly -fo rm ed n a tio n a l se rv ice agency. This y e a r ’s ren e w e d a w a rd for the ACE te a c h e r tra in in g p ro g ram a t N otre Dam e rep rese n ts a 75 p ercen t in c rease over the p re ­ vious y e a r ’s g ran t. A ccording to Lou D elFra, a s ­ s o c ia te d i r e c to r o f ACE, th e su b stan tia l aw a rd h as m ade it p o s s ib le fo r ACE to p ro v id e e a c h p a r t i c ip a n t in th e p r o ­ g ram w ith $4 ,275 w h ich they can use to pay off s tu d en t loans o r de fray th e costs o f fu r th e r g rad u a te education . S iste r L ourdes S heehan , d i­ re c to r o f ACE, recognizes th a t the inc rease in this y e a r’s g ran t desp ite C ongress’ in ten t to cu t education funding “is a tribu te to the im pact ou r young te ac h ­ e r s h a v e h a d on th e liv es of th o u sa n d s o f a t— risk sc h o o l­ c h i ld r e n in S o u th B end a n d th roughou t the sou thern U.S.” ACE w as founded in 1994 by F r . T im o th y S c u lly , N o tre D am e’s vice p re s id e n t and a s ­ soc ia te provost, and Sean McG raw , fo rm er asso c ia te d ire c ­ to r of ACE, for the p u rpose of p r o v id in g t e a c h e r s fo r r e s o u r c e p o o r p a r o c h ia l schools in cities th roughou t the s o u th e r n a n d s o u t h e a s t e r n United S tates. T he p ro g ra m also offers the o p p o rtu n ity for re c e n t g ra d u ­ a te s from N o tre D am e, S a in t M ary’s, and o th e r selective un i­ v e rs i t ie s to re c e iv e in te n s iv e te a c h e r tra in in g w hile serv ing in Catholic com m unities. A fte r c o m p le tin g a n in it ia l s u m m e r tr a in in g p ro g ra m in w hich they spend tim e w orking in S outh B end pub lic schools, p a r t i c ip a n t s s p e n d o n e y e a r te a c h in g in b o th e le m e n ta ry an d se c o n d a ry sch o o ls in the 13 d ioceses served by ACE. A second su m m e r of tra in in g a t N o tre D a m e in c o o p e r a t io n w ith the University of P ortland is fo llo w ed by a n a d d i t io n a l y e a r o f s e r v in g a s fu l l t im e educato rs. The cum ulative two y e a r s o f t r a i n in g fu lf i l l th e req u irem en ts for a m a s te r’s in e d u c a t io n d e g r e e f ro m th e U niversity of Portland. The fact th a t teach ers live to ­ g e th e r in sm a ll c o m m u n itie s en a b le s them to su p p o rt each o th e r and sh a re the challenges a n d b e n e f i t s o f t h e i r n e w te a c h in g e x p e r ie n c e s . T hey also com e to g e th e r tw ice d u r ­ in g e a c h s c h o o l y e a r fo r re trea t-w o rk sh o p s designed to help th em e v a lu a te th e ir m is-