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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
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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 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.
Kate has
served on the Membership Services Committee of the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd; occasionally she
has checked 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. space
In 1998, Kate implemented the Good Shepherd approach at St. Bartholomew Church in Bethesda, Maryland. For several years she coordinated atria in levels
1 and 2 at St. Bartholomew. Currently Kate has teamed up with Sue Wentworth to start a level 1 atrium in Sue's
Annapolis home; they hope to open the atrium to local children in fall of 2010.
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 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 CCT.
Kate 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 teacher for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. She is qualified to teach ESOL, special education, English,
and theater. Kate enjoys integrating the performing and creative arts into all subjects; occasionally she conducts
theater workshops and/or performs in plays.
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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 (CGS) and the Montessori Method. She studied CGS 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. Her long-time career as a Montessori teacher
has helped to make her an expert in the Montessori component of CGS. For several years, Amanda has directed all three
atrium levels for a Roman Catholic community in Virginia. Recently (September 2009) she and her husband moved their community's
atrium into their home after the original space for the atrium became unavailable. Amanda is also a founding 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. 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.
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| After training in Alaska: Kate's kids (left) & Amanda and family (right) |
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