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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 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.
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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 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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