Schools Seek Future Teachers at Catholic Education Job Fair

“You have been well-formed, and you know what a well-educated Catholic looks like; so, I need you to come be the leaven, the salt, to show what that looks like for students and other teachers,” said Jessica McGibbon, head of the lower school at Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mrs. McGibbon was one of several area Catholic educators who, this past Saturday, came to Thomas Aquinas College, New England, to recruit soon-to-be graduates to the teaching profession. Students from all classes gathered in the Tracy Student Center for a career fair featuring representatives from Catholic schools throughout the Northeast.

Among those representatives was Steven Duchaney (’99), a TAC alumnus and the academic dean of St. Michael Catholic School in Brattleboro, Vermont. Joining him and Mrs. McGibbon were representatives from Koinonia Academy in Plainfield, New Jersey, and Lionheart Classical Academy in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The educators discussed their mission to the students and highlighted the tremendous need for liberally educated teachers.

“The representatives all spoke to the fact that our culture is in need of young people who want to be in the classroom shaping souls,” shared Emily (Barry ’11) Sullivan, events planner for the TAC-New England Office of the Dean. “I think the representatives were very excited by the students they met, because our graduates have been recipients of so much knowledge and so much formation.” 

Following the career fair, students and representatives enjoyed lunch and drinks as they continued their discussion. “It was very interesting to see the local options for teaching, so we can stay close to the TAC community while pursuing vocations as Catholic teachers,” said Theresa Peek (’22). “There is a need to save the western Catholic culture, so what better way to do that than through cultivating the souls of children?”