Alumni Spotlight

Maggie Keefe served with Amate House from 1995-96 at St. Agnes School in Little Village while living in the St. Willian Parish House in Elmwood Park. Maggie is currently working at Our Lady of Mount Carmel school and still lives in Chicago. When asked to reflect on her year of service, she wrote...

"During my Amate House year of teaching, I was given the opportunity to work with a diverse group of children in the Little Village neighborhood. I co-taught 2nd grade with Amate House alum Megan Sullivan at St. Agnes School at 26th and Cermak in Chicago. It is difficult to put in a short paragraph what was the most rewarding aspect of working at St. Agnes, as there were so many, too many to count. Luckily, St. Agnes was blessed with an amazing principal, Patricia Jones. Ms. Jones was an inspiration to the entire school community at St. Agnes and wholeheartedly devoted to the students and families of St. Agnes. This is what I believe to be the “magic” of Amate House. During my year at Amate House, all of us were working with incredibly amazing and inspirational leaders and principals. There wasn’t a day that went by that wasn’t beautifully challenging. Amate House pulled at your heartstrings in many ways. Every experience generated spiritual growth in ways that many people never have the opportunity to experience.

While working with a socio-economically diverse group of students at St. Agnes, my focus was always heart first, grades second. Remembering what really matters is the heart of authentic volunteer work, “be one with your people.” Truth be told, I was never concerned about their grades, I was concerned about whether or not they were doing ok and felt safe. Teaching at St. Agnes was about devotion and love to a community of children who came to school every day believing their teacher was a real-life superhero. That was the most rewarding aspect. The student who stayed after school every day to be a teachers helper, the ones who drew you the same picture, every. single. day., and the junior high students in ELL that were too cool to express their appreciation and/or admiration. The rewarding aspects were always about the kids, their daily breakthroughs learning English, their sweet dispositions."