Corps Values: Education Students Make an Impact on Area Schools
Thirteen strangers are chosen and instructed to live together, eat together and depend upon each other. This isn鈥檛 the next season of prime-time reality television. This is the Billiken Teacher Corps, a two-year, service-driven master鈥檚 program at Saint Louis University.
Participants are not just roommates or classmates; they鈥檙e treated as a community 鈥� somewhere between a cohort and a family. They have shared experiences and make programmatic decisions as a group. They鈥檙e young, energetic teachers who rely upon each other for prayer, support, fellowship and camaraderie.
鈥淭he Billiken Teacher Corps is a program with three interlocking pillars,鈥� said John James, Ed.D., a School of Education faculty member who helped make the program a reality. 鈥淥ne, teaching in a high-need, urban, Catholic school. Two, earning a tuition-remission master鈥檚 degree at 新澳门六合彩开奖结果. And three, living in an intentional faith community, which involves prayer and personal spiritual development.鈥�
The program launched in June 2015. Participants are recent college graduates, some with undergraduate degrees in education and some without, who have a drive to serve and a desire to teach. The inaugural six Billiken Teachers have started their second year in the program and welcomed a new cohort of seven this past June.
The Billiken Teacher Corps is based on the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame, but anyone familiar with service-driven programs will notice similar elements. It鈥檚 like the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, but with a teaching component. It鈥檚 like Teach for America, but all participants live together.
Michelle Ehrhard, a second-year Billiken Teacher Corps student who is originally from St. Louis, heard about the program during her senior year at Truman State University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like my personality was shifted into a program,鈥� Ehrhard said.
鈥淚 was somewhere between being Catholic and wanting to teach, but wanting it to be more than just a career 鈥� wanting to show God through it.鈥�
The Teaching
Each student in the program is placed in an under-resourced school in the St. Louis region to teach for two years. Elise Earley teaches middle school science at St. Cecilia School and Academy in St. Louis. She has always wanted to effect change in the world. But because she did not decide to become a teacher until after she graduated from college, she was without the student-teaching experience that undergraduate education majors have.
鈥淭he first day of school was kind of shocking,鈥� Earley said. 鈥淣othing can prepare you for that first day. Until you get into the classroom, you have no idea what it鈥檒l be like.鈥�
She was lucky to have very sweet students in her class, she said, willing to help out as she learned the ins and outs of managing a classroom.
Sarah Staten teaches math and religion to sixth, seventh and eighth graders at St. Louis the King School at the Cathedral in St. Louis鈥� Central West End. 鈥淚t was initially intimidating to have six classes to plan for,鈥� Staten said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had to develop my own curriculum based on what the students need and what they aren鈥檛 understanding.鈥�
The Learning
Once a week during the school year, the tables are turned and the Billiken Teachers become students. Earning a Master of Arts in teaching through the two-year program, the cohort takes one evening class during the academic year and three concurrent classes during the summer.
鈥淭he classes are mostly discussion-based,鈥� Staten said. 鈥淔or a lot of it, you incorporate what you鈥檝e done teaching into the class. So it鈥檚 not a ton of new knowledge, but it鈥檚 reinforced by what you鈥檙e doing.鈥�
The program begins with three summer classes. Billiken Teachers who are not yet certified teachers take a class preparing them for classroom management and the basics of education. Many of the classes in the master鈥檚 program focus on urban education.
鈥淭he Billiken Teachers鈥� success will be grounded in the ability to use the research-based approaches they learn at SLU to achieve real-world results,鈥� said Ronny O鈥橠wyer, S.J. (Grad A&S 鈥�09, Grad Ed 鈥�10), director of the Billiken Teacher Corps. 鈥淭his will require our members to integrate spiritual passion and intellectual depth with their service as leaders in Catholic education.鈥�
The Community
All Billiken Teachers live together in a renovated convent at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in south St. Louis. The old convent has three floors: the top floor has 14 individual rooms and community bathrooms; a main floor includes study spaces, tables, couches and a chapel; and the bottom floor has the kitchen, dining room, laundry room and television room.
Mandatory weekly events fulfill the community and faith-formation aspect of the program. One night a week O鈥橠wyer joins the community for Mass and dinner, and leads them through various aspects of St. Ignatius鈥� Spiritual Exercises. On other evenings, one person cooks dinner for the group.
鈥淲e鈥檙e like a family,鈥� Ehrhard said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like somewhere in between really close roommates and family because they鈥檙e peers 鈥� peers that you might not have chosen, but you end up loving. It鈥檚 a messy, beautiful thing.鈥�
Billiken Teachers live together, eat together, pray together, learn together, laugh together. They stay up late and share classroom techniques and ideas with each other.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect to be super close to anybody, but I have come to love everybody in the program,鈥� Staten said. 鈥淚 look forward to catching up with everybody, seeing how their days were, sharing funny stories and just getting to know each of them outside of the teacher context.鈥�
And Staten said it鈥檚 been a huge blessing during the challenges brought up by the program. When someone has to miss a community event, it becomes obvious how important that time together is.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know I鈥檇 need it,鈥� Staten said, 鈥渂ut God knew I would, so he gave me good people.鈥�
The Calling
Billiken Teachers have adopted the phrase 鈥淭each me鈥� as their motto. 鈥淎nyone familiar with Jesuit education likely knows by heart St. Ignatius鈥� prayer for generosity,鈥� O鈥橠wyer explained. 鈥淭he prayer consists of seven stanzas, each beginning with the words 鈥榯each me鈥� 鈥� teach me to be generous, teach me to serve, teach me to give, to fight, to labor.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a prayer to God, of course, but it鈥檚 also a call we hear coming from our students: teach me,鈥� he continued. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 more. Anyone who has ever taught knows that teachers learn from their students. So to the students, too, we say teach me 鈥� teach me how to be Christ for you.鈥�
Even with this powerful motivation, joining the Billiken Teacher Corps might not be the right fit for everybody. Teaching is a job full of delayed gratification, the Billiken Teachers say, and you have to be able to rely on your community for support on the days the job is taxing. You have to put your community鈥檚 needs and wants ahead of your own needs and wants. You have to share a bathroom.
But all of the Billiken Teachers agree: It鈥檚 worth it. 鈥淚t has really worked out for the best,鈥� Ehrhard said. 鈥淣ot just for the better, but for the best.鈥�
To make a gift to the Billiken Teacher Corps, please contact development director John Stiles at stilesja@slu.edu. Watch a short video about the Billiken Teacher Corps online on .