The third cohort of DIA Fellows is underway! Six Catholic school professionals are undertaking very interesting initiatives in their respective schools to further the mission focus and formation in their communities. Each upcoming issue of The Cenacle will profile the 2023 candidates. Our first two profiles are for Randall Justman and Max Grisnik.
Randall Justman has been teaching theology at JSerra Catholic High School for five years. He has mainly focused on teaching scripture but has also taught sacraments, morality, and lives of the saints. Before becoming a teacher, Randall worked as a youth minister for three years. Randall received his undergraduate degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2015 and is currently working on his master’s in educational technology from Webster University.
For his DIA Fellowship project, Randall would like to focus on building a robust program that encourages parents as the primary catechists and educators of their children by offering evening courses for them to mirror what their children are learning in the classroom.
Max Grisnik is in his third year teaching at St. James Academy High School in Lenexa, KS. Before that, he was the building substitute. He is currently teaching Rhetoric and Media Arts, World Studies, and History of Film. He has also taught other courses in the Social Studies department. He is an alum of St. James Academy and is the head coach of Science Olympiad.
St. James Academy, a Catholic high school in Lenexa, KS, is in the beginning stages of a new program called Rhetoric and Media Arts. The aim of this program is to harmonize the classical roots of rhetoric with the technical side of media while doing so with a Catholic Worldview. Max’s Fellowship will focus on developing resources for the course, to develop ways to reinforce to students how, using rhetoric, the Catholic Worldview can be conveyed through all media platforms.
Applications for the next cohort of DIA Fellows will be available in October. This is a valuable leadership development opportunity for the change-makers in our school communities!
View the work of past DIA Fellows here.