Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation

The PLACE Corps—Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education—is a two-year teaching service program formed through a partnership between Loyola Marymount University and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and is a member of the University Consortium for Catholic Education partnering with the University of Notre Dame. PLACE Corps gives students an opportunity to earn both a teaching credential and a master’s degree while working as a full-time teacher in an underserved Catholic school. PLACE focuses on meeting the needs of the Los Angeles Archdiocese by preparing highly qualified, motivated and faith-filled teachers who will perpetuate the rich tradition of Catholic education and provide their students—many of whom are among the poorest children in the Los Angeles Diocese—with positive Catholic role models.

Participants receive a modest salary that covers school and living expenses, and enables most to graduate debt-free. They promise to remain single for the two-year program and to live with other PLACE Corps participants in one of five “communities,” four of which are renovated convents, within commuting distance to LMU and their respective “PLACEment” schools. Each community has both first year and second year participants, and is assigned community support persons to assist in fostering an environment conducive to mutual respect, support, and spiritual growth. PLACErs gather for retreats, masses, and daily interaction with their peers. Begun in the summer of 2001, PLACE Corps began with fourteen students from seven universities. In its fifth year, PLACE can already track great success, with seventy-five current participants and alumni teaching in over thirty under-resourced archdiocesan schools, serving over 7,000 Catholic children. Cohort 6 attracted applicants from 33 universities and 20 states.

One second year PLACEr is Melissa Souza. Melissa, originally from Aiea, HI, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from LMU. Her “PLACEment” is in the 6th grade at St. Philomena School in Carson. Melissa’s love of teaching began at an early age, reading aloud to neighbors, nephews and nieces under the tree in her backyard. Her love of teaching and desire for service grew as she became involved in teaching confirmation classes at her parish. For Melissa, the classroom is a space where learning is a continuous conversation reciprocated among her pupils and herself. She is constantly reminded of the presence of God in her students, whether it is in their beaming smiles when she is exhausted and worn or in their critical questions about life. She has also benefited from living in community…Living in community has taught me how important it is to be present. This lesson transmits to my teaching. It is easy to get distracted from my vocation of teaching by the “job of teaching.” I constantly ask God to keep me grounded in His purpose and guide me to remain present in the lives I touch; because that is the only way I can impact them.”

Last summer PLACE Corps’ retreat began with the challenge from Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” – Micah 6:8