Detroit — New year, new classroom, new curriculum. The 2016-17 school year in the Archdiocese of Detroit is going to have a whole lot of new.

As it has for the past three years, the school year kicks off with the annual Teachers and Administrators Conference, Aug. 8 at the Student Fitness Center at the University of Detroit Mercy. But this year’s conference will have a whole new look to it as the first back-to-school conference since Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron released his pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel.

“Part of the pastoral letter calls for a new religion curriculum in our schools, and it’s here,” said Brian Dougherty, Ph.D., superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit. “Much of the sentiment from the pastoral letter discussed an increase in our Catholic identity in our schools, and the responsibilities for each of our teachers to teach religion in a much deeper, wider way than what’s been done in the past.”

Dougherty said the conference, which already has more than 600 attendees signed up, is an opportunity for teachers to discuss how best to implement the new curriculum introduced in March. Dougherty added the archdiocesan website has added a web page  with resources for teachers to use to help them understand and teach the new curriculum.

This year’s keynote speaker is Sr. John Mary Fleming, OP, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Catholic Education, who will speak about schools’ role in discipleship and evangelization.

The conference will also feature a breakout session, a sort of “conference within a conference,” said Karen White, Ph.D., associate superintendent for the archdiocese’s Central Region, where teachers can converse with other teachers on ways to offer a more holistic Catholic education.

“We have entire sessions dedicated to prayer, and what it means to incorporate that Catholic identity through all the classes,” White said. “We’re also going to have technology labs where teachers can discuss issues they have with technology in the classroom, where it can be improved and where they can learn more.

“Like a doctor needs updating, our teachers are professionals, and they seek new information to improve their craft,” White said.
The conference has increased in attendance since it began in 2014; Dougherty expects almost 800 teachers, administrators and school business advisers when doors open at 7:45 a.m.

“This is an opportunity to hundreds of teachers in the Archdiocese of Detroit to meet other teachers,” Dougherty said. “So a teacher at St. Mary in Wayne can have a conversation with a teacher at Bishop Kelley in Lapeer. Teachers from all corners of the archdiocese will be there to talk with one another.

“We want to be a cohesive education provider. We’re not silos of schools, we’re the Archdiocese of Detroit,” Dougherty added. “There will be tables of people who won’t see each other again, but will have the opportunity ask questions, learn about one another, get feedback. The fact we are almost at capacity speaks volumes to the value of this conference.”