In the Beginning:

Last Spring, it was suggested that I inquire about a job at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore City.  St. Frances Academy was founded in 1828.  I soon came to learn that the founders, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, established the school to teach Scripture to African American children, before it was legal in Maryland to teach these same children and their parents how to read. 

I inquired some more and found out that for the last twenty-five years, St. Frances Academy has had a Jewish Studies program which includes, Hebrew Language, Holocaust Studies, and Reading Scripture through a Jewish lens.  These classes are not electives, they are requirements to graduate.  The school had decided that in order to really understand Jesus and his teachings, one needed to understand the world from which he came.  There was also a commitment to to foster a greater understanding of Judaism in light of the relationship between the Catholic Church and Jewish communities throughout past centuries.

I was offered the job.  How could I say no? 

So today is August 6th.
New teacher orientation is August 19th.
And on the Tuesday after Labor Day, I begin my first teaching job in a Baltimore Inner City Catholic High School.   It is going to be great! 

Something you should know about me is when it comes to teaching, I plan, plan, plan and plan some more.  But more about that in my next post.