God's Mysterious Divine Plan
Dear Mater Dei Community,
God is truly trying to get our attention this Lent. With the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, He has forced us to slow down, reevaluate our priorities and surrender completely to His mysterious divine plan. As an apostolate we will continue to move forward blindly in faith, as we have been accustomed to do from the start. God is so good and it's truly providential how He has formed and guided us to handle this unique situation. In this month’s newsletter we will share how we’ve been responding. Also, we are happy to introduce three new instructors to our Mater Dei team. May God bless you this Holy Week, Easter Season, and the days ahead.
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Ad Jesum Per Mariam
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Day-to-day at Mater Dei
Providentially, our learning management system at Mater Dei has live conferencing capabilities that we've been utilizing since the start of the school year for our History course (which is taught remotely part of the time). This made the overall transition to online learning much easier for everyone due to the familiarity with the system. The structure of our academic week has remained the same, with classes taking place on the same days and times as usual via live conference.
Instructors have been resilient, adapting their lessons and teaching style to this unexpected situation. Although we hope to be back to the regular way of doing things soon, we are preparing for long term scenarios as well. Through live meetings with instructors, students, and parents, we are staying connected and doing our best to keep things as normal as possible.
New instructors
We are excited to welcome three new Mater Dei instructors for year two! Get to know them by reading through their bios below. Stay tuned for more introductions as we continue recruiting.
Mr. John McLoughlin
Latin I - Latin II
John is a linguist and former seminarian, having attended the University of St. Thomas with a focus on Classical and Modern Languages, including German, French, Latin, Hebrew, and Irish Gaelic. John has several years of experience as an instructor and tutor. He has led Latin language classes and instruction in serving the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Benedict's parish in Duluth. He has also taught second grade Hebrew at Temple Israel, and led a multi-level Hebrew course in Superior. Besides his time at seminary and also working as a translator for a technology firm in Karlsruhe, Germany, John is a lifelong resident of Duluth where he is currently the organist at St. Benedict's church, tutors in French, and runs Gaeltacht Duluth--an Irish Gaelic instruction and study group. John is excited to be a part of Mater Dei Apostolate's mission to bring a rich educational foundation to area youth, especially through the teaching of Latin, a language which has been so fundamentally instrumental in the Church and in Western history and thought.
Ms. Deirdre Schlunegger
Spanish I
Deirdre graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in child and adolescent development. In addition, she fulfilled requirements of a Child Life Internship at John’s Hopkins Children’s Hospital and completed the Nonprofit Management program at the Kellogg School of Business. Deirdre has over twenty-five years nonprofit leadership experience including her work as CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness, President & CEO of Make a Wish Foundation of Oklahoma, and VP of Breast Cancer Network of Strength. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Georgia. Currently, Deirdre resides in Two Harbors and runs her own business doing nonprofit consulting and fundraising. The Spanish language and culture has been a part of Deirdre’s life since she was a teenager. Her fluency in Spanish has led to multiple unique opportunities, including serving as a translator for Noel Paul Stookey when he created a children’s album. She is grateful to be a part of Mater Dei Apostolate, educating students in a language that she loves.
Mr. Zach Bennett
Biology
Zach received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of St. Scholastica in 2006 double majoring in biology and Catholic studies and minoring in chemistry. He served as Youth Minister and Director of Religious Education for a Duluth parish for four years before returning to academia to pursue his Master of Science degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Integrated Biosciences program. While completing graduate studies he served 2 years as a graduate teaching assistant for undergraduate courses, and one year as scientist-in-residence at Denfeld High School by means of a fellowship granted through the National Science Foundation. In 2013, Zach began his teaching career in the biology department at Lake Superior College. He teaches courses that range from general biology to human anatomy and physiology to students of all ages. Aside from raising 3 young children with his wife, Zach enjoys the active, outdoor life Duluth offers. He is excited to teach Biology at Mater Dei to help young learners see the compatibility of faith and reason through the genius of the Catholic intellectual tradition and the beauty of the natural sciences.
Support
Please join us in our mission to provide higher education prep with a higher purpose! There are several ways to support our apostolate during these times. Please take a moment to learn more.