Catholic Studies News joint degree, and the Mission and Culture in Catholic Education Graduate Certificate. Beloved by Catholic Studies students as a dynamic and engaging teacher, Junker will continue to teach courses at the graduate and undergraduate level. Watch for his HyFlex Dante seminar in spring 2022 – a perfect option for both online and local students. Junker will bring fresh vision for the program, as he looks to expand the program’s internal and external partnerships with the Opus College of Business, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and beyond. With Junker at the helm the graduate program will continue to be a place for rich conversation about things that matter. JUNKER TAKES HELM OF GRADUATE PROGRAM Did you know? Dr. William Junker will begin his new role as director of graduate students for St. Thomas Catholic Studies during the 2021-22 academic year and is eager to build upon the double-digit growth the program saw under Dr. Erika Kidd’s leadership. Drawing on his experience as a former co-director of the Murphy Institute for Law and Public Policy, Junker will oversee the full slate of Catholic Studies Graduate Program offerings, including the online and on-ground Catholic Studies MA, the J.D./CSMA
ALUMNUS BUILDS BUSINESS TO SERVE CATHOLIC RELIGION TEACHERS, FAMILIES
When Greg Aitchison ’04 arrived at his first Catholic school teacher in-service, he discovered he was on the hook to teach second, fifth,
the encouragement of his students that finally led him to create a website to share his resources with other religion teachers. While the project started small, the site was eventually receiving web traffic from around the world – Canada, Cambodia, Chile and Cameroon, to name a few. In 2020, with baby four on the way, he stepped away from the classroom to devote time to building his CatholicReligionTeacher.com business. Lesson plans and teaching resources on Catholic Religion Teacher span from pre-K up to 12th grade and dozens of topics and needs. One of his most recent teaching bundles is the “Pick, Click and Pray” Catholic Prayers bundle, which includes Pope Leo XIII’s Prayer to St. Joseph for the Year of St. Joseph along with material dedicated to helping students and kids with impromptu prayer. Visit teacherspayteachers.com to order and download the bundle for your classroom, kids or grandkids, and visit catholicreligionteacher.com to learn more.
sixth, seventh and eighth grade religion, along with fifth grade science and social studies. His first year teaching was, clearly, not without challenges. Though to his surprise it wasn’t the science or social studies classes that were his biggest struggle, but his religion classes – the subject for which he had studied most extensively and for which he was the most passionate. It was the lack of relevant, interesting and age-appropriate, yet still challenging, resources that left himwithout an oar paddling upstream. After some stumbles and false starts he decided to create his own lessons, assignments and activities which, while time consuming, proved immediately rewarding for his students and himself. It was due to
Page 14 stthomas.edu/catholicstudies
Powered by FlippingBook