The Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Advocates for Parental Choice Symposium held its second weeklong session at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, on July 13-17, 2009. ACE is as innovative two-year Master's Degree Program at Notre Dame University that offers college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced Catholic schools across the southern United States.

The Advocates spent a week in Milwaukee to learn more about the nuts and bolts of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. The group will hear from educators, parents, students, elected officials, business representatives, funders and other community leaders.

The week of learning was balanced in that information was presented in a lecture/question and answer format with panel discussions. Fellows also had an opportunity to visit several local schools in the area including: St. Marcus Lutheran, St. Bernadette, St. Rafael, St. Joan Antida, and CEO Leadership Academy. Visiting Schools gave the fellows an opportunity to have direct contact with school leaders to get a sense of the on-the-ground success and challenges in running a school in the program.

Without a doubt, the highlight for me was the panel discussion with four extraordinary Black students who are currently in the program or who have graduated from the program. These students are Ashley Beckford, Alea Cross, Travis Newbhardt, and Kareem Sample. Ashley Beckford, a graduate of CEO Leadership Academy and MCBAEO member, said simply, "I don't know where I would be if we didn't have choice." Ashley is a sophomore at Pepperdine University and is planning to study abroad next semester in Argentina. Another student, Alea Cross, who graduated from Messmer High School and is a sophomore at Marquette University, stated, " I had a great education experience because of choice."

The passion, interest, and expertise of the presenters that I had a chance to witness were great. One of the fellows commented that her experience was, "phenomenal...this is extraordinary work you all are involved in."