Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Center for Training

Formation Leader Bios

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Kate with Sofia Cavalletti in 1997

When wonder becomes a fundamental attitude of our spirit, it will confer a religious character to our whole life, because it makes us live with the consciousness of being plunged into an unfathomable reality.  If we are disposed to reflect on reality in its complexity, then it will reveal itself to be full of the unexpected, aspects we will never succeed in grasping or circumscribing; then we will be unable to close our eyes to the presence of something or someone within it that surpasses us.  (Sofia Cavalletti, RPOC, 139)

Formation Leader and Consultant Bios

Formation Leader
Kate Collins received her master's degree in Pastoral Studies from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C.  WTU awarded her eight graduate credits upon entering the program for her studies in CGS. She received her B.A. in drama from The Catholic University of America and is a graduate of the Education for Parish Service program at Trinity College.  Kate also completed her master's degree coursework in Theater & Communications at the University of Maryland, College Park.    


As a recognized formation leader of this method, Kate holds certificates in all three levels of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  Kate completed her training as a catechist in Levels 1-3, and as a Level 1 formation leader, at Christian Family Montessori School (CFMS) in Mount Rainier, Maryland, under the direction of Catherine Maresca; she also participated in the National Association sponsored course for formation leaders in the Level 2 curriculum led by Rebekah Rojcewicz. 

Currently Kate serves on the Membership Services Committee of the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd; she also "grades" albums for candidates in the MAPS degree program at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis.  
Kate's experience as a Good Shepherd catechist has been as full-time primary catechist and part-time lower elementary catechist at CFMS.  In 1998 Kate initiated the Good Shepherd approach at St. Bartholomew Church in Bethesda, Maryland.  Until recently she coordinated atria in levels 1 and 2, and directed children in the Level 2 atrium.  She is hoping to find a parish in the Annapolis area that would like to initiate the CGS approach in their community.

Kate was able to travel to
Rome in January 1997 to meet with Sofia Cavalletti and see the atrium where she and Gianna Gobbi conducted their "experiment" together for nearly 50 years.  Kate had an opportunity to observe children in session as well as attend a post-session de-briefing with Sofia and catechists.  Kate's trip to Rome was generously funded by Mary's Pence. 

Kate also was a founding member of Center for Children and Theology.  Serving for a brief stint as CCT's public relations coordinator, she landed a cover story in "National Catholic Reporter" for
Christian Family Montessori School and persuaded nationally syndicated columnist Colman McCarthy to write a column about the school and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for "The Washington Post."  Kate and CCT give credit and many thanks to Fr. Mike Walsh for his generous financial contribution to the start of this center. 

Kate recently worked part-time on a sacramentary project for priests who are vision impaired sponsored by the National Catholic Partnership on Disabilities.  Under the direction of Jan Benton, Kate helped to format the sacramentary in 3 different font sizes that will enable vision impaired priests to read the Sacramentary with more ease. 

During the school year, Kate is a full-time special ed teacher at Central Middle School in Edgewater, Maryland
.  She enjoys integrating the performing and creative arts into all subjects; occasionally she conducts theater workshops and/or performs in plays. 

Special Assistant and Consultant

Amanda Messinger, an AMI certified Montessori teacher and catechist in Levels 1-3, will share, on a part-time basis, her wealth of insights regarding the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and the Montessori Method. She studied with Rebekah Rojcewicz and Catherine Maresca and gained valuable experience working with them as a catechist and teacher at Christian Family Montessori School in Mount Rainier. Amanda is also a founding board member of the Center for Children and Theology. Amanda did her undergraduate work at Duke University and holds a M.Ed. from Cleveland State University. She currently teaches at a Montessori school and directs all three atrium levels for a Catholic community in Virginia Besides her impressive background as a Montessori educator and Good Shepherd catechist, Amanda has a gorgeous singing voice and performs semi-professionally on a regular basis.  Participants in the course will be delighted to hear Amanda singing a basic repertoire of atrium songs, copies of which are provided to each catechist. As a note of interest, Amanda's husband Mike, a patent lawyer in the District of Columbia, has taken training in all 3 levels of the Catechesis; currently he directs children in the level 3 atrium of their Catholic community. In 2004, Mike and Amanda, along with their 2 sons, Kevin and Conor, were honored to host two teens from Northern Ireland.  The teens were from the same town, but from opposite camps: one Catholic and one Protestant.  Amanda and her family thought it was a wonderful experience to promote peace and understanding between members of two groups of people who sometimes have difficulty getting along.  Leave it to Amanda and Mike to then travel to Northern Ireland where they were able to get the families of the boys together!  A good time was had by all.  Pace et bene. 
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*Catherine Maresca trains catechists nationally and is Founder and Director of Center for Children and Theology in Mount Rainier, Maryland.  She spearheaded the creation of Christian Family Montessori School (CFMS), which began in her living room!, and for many years, with a break in-between, she has been the Director of Religious Education for CFMS.*Rebekah Rojcewicz trains catechists nationally  and is Director of the Good Shepherd Center at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee.  Rebekah was the very first Montessori teacher and CGS trained catechist for Christian Family Montessori School.  She is one of Sofia Cavalletti's official translators for her published works in English.

Rebekah Rojcewicz: There is no other work in which you have to know so much in order to let it go.

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After training in Alaska: Kate's kids (left) & Amanda and family (right)

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http://www.maryspence.org/home.html

AMI (Association Montessori Internationale): http://ami.edu/

Catholic University of America: http://www.cua.edu/

Center for Children and Theology: http://www.cctheo.org/ 

Christian Family Montessori School: http://www.cfmschool.org/

Cleveland State University: http://www.csuohio.edu/

Duke University: http://www.duke.edu/

Education for Parish Service, Trinity College: http://eps.trinitydc.edu/

National Catholic Partnership on Disabilitiy: http://www.ncpd.org/

University of Maryland: http://www.umd.edu/

Washington Theological Union: http://wtu.edu/

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