Watch now: How one Lincoln school is looking to revitalize Catholic education

Ionic columns, barrel vaults and capstones are not words you might typically hear tossed around by second graders in the 21st century.

So it warmed the Rev. Jamie Hottovy’s heart to watch students from St. Teresa Catholic School in Lincoln confidently answering questions about the Ancient Greek and Roman influences on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s architecture during a tour this past school year.

Rev. Jamie Hottovy points out the columns on the Temple Building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus during a St. Teresa Catholic School second grade field trip last school year. A new curriculum called Catholic Liberal Education is being piloted at the school.

COURTESY PHOTO

Just look at the Temple Building with its columns, the priest pointed out.

Or Memorial Stadium and the debt it owes to the Roman Coliseum.

The field trip coincided with a unit on Ancient Rome and STEM the second graders were studying, just one of the new features of an educational approach the Diocese of Lincoln is piloting at St. Teresa.

It’s called Catholic Liberal Education, a new — or rather “old” — curriculum based on the liberal arts and sciences and the classical method of learning cultivated by the church for centuries.

Beauty, truth and a deeper understanding of the faith are an especial focus of the curriculum, which has been touted as the “gold standard” of education and a way for Catholic schools — which have long faced enrollment concerns — to renew and revive their central mission.

“It’s all about coming to Christ. That’s first and foremost,” said Hottovy, the pastor of St. Teresa until this month, when he was reassigned to parishes in Lawrence and Deweese.

The curriculum, elements of which teachers tested out this past school year, will be introduced in phases over the next few years at the school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students near 37th and Randolph streets. If all goes well, it may be introduced to other schools in the diocese, officials say.

“It’s more of a return to what Catholic education always was in the past,” said Matthew Hecker, chief administrative officer of the Diocese of Lincoln’s schools. “(It’s) the Catholic education that is responsible for things like the training of St. Thomas Aquinas, responsible for the training of and formation of musicians like Mozart and Beethoven and artists like Michelangelo. I don’t think God quit making those kinds of artists. I think we quit forming them.”

The first phase, which will start in August, will focus on history, language arts and religion, with nature studies, science and math to follow.

The lower grades will study the Age of Antiquity — Ancient Greece and Rome — and will be introduced to literary fairy tales, in addition to stories about the early church.

As students progress, they’ll track the history of Western Civilization and Christendom from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and also American history.

Third graders will read stories about King Arthur and the saints of the medieval period. Lessons in Latin will also be incorporated at the school.

Students in junior high will revisit many of the topics introduced in earlier grades but on a deeper level, including studying the emergence of democracy and other forms of government.

Science and math curriculum will include more experiential learning, including nature journaling and observing how mathematical principles play out in real life.

“You can learn about Newton’s laws in a textbook, but you can learn about them by engaging in them,” said Sister Mary Cecilia, the principal at St. Teresa.

The curriculum also includes the study of sacred art and architecture. In addition to the field trip to UNL, students visited churches in Omaha this past school year.

Fourth graders will still learn about Nebraska history, and lessons about other peoples and civilizations outside the West will still be taught.

But make no mistake, Catholic Liberal Education will be a new approach for teachers and students.

For one, it places less of an emphasis on textbook learning and more on primary sources. And while school officials say students still will be prepared for a 21st century world, teachers are expected to be more discerning with screen time.

The use of discussions, such as Socratic seminars — which involve students asking open-ended questions and working through the answers collectively — is encouraged, too.

Bishop James Conley first approached school officials about implementing Catholic Liberal Education at St. Teresa in the spring of 2021, Sister Mary Cecilia said.