The inaugural cohort of Catholic educators in the state of Oklahoma to graduate from the CEFC program. Photo credit: Chris Porter/Sooner Catholic.
In February 2025, following 18 months of intensive in-person workshops, weekly online classes, homework assignments, and teacher observations, 25 Catholic educators in the state of Oklahoma successfully graduated from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education’s groundbreaking teacher formation and credentialing program.
Oklahoma is the first state in the country to offer the Catholic Educator Formation and Credential (CEFC) Program to all of its Catholic educators, in both the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. Taught from a distinctly Catholic perspective, the CEFC is the only teaching credential program that exists to offer a uniquely Catholic formation for educators. To date, the CEFC program has served 299 Catholic educators in 59 dioceses across 26 different states.
Mrs. Becky White graduated from the CEFC program with distinction, and was invited to offer remarks on behalf of the cohort at graduation.
Mrs. Becky White, Learning Specialist at Holy Family Classical School in Tulsa, OK, and a participant in the first cohort of Oklahoma teachers to complete the CEFC program, graduated from the program with distinction. She delivered the following address at the CEFC graduation ceremony on Saturday, February 22, 2025.
I want to begin by offering much-warranted gratitude on behalf of the Blessed Stanley Rother cohort to our instructors, Dr. Aly Barnes, Dr. Ryan Messmore, and Dr. Kari Carr, among many other members of the ICLE faculty. Thank you so much for pouring yourselves into each of us—guiding us with humility and wisdom toward Truth; strengthening the net in which we cast, often into the very deep, with faith and hope that we too may guide our own students to He Who is True, Good, and Beautiful.
Thank you to Katie Zimdars and James Bleecker for always accommodating us with joy and creating an atmosphere conducive to not only the nourishment of the intellect and soul, but also to fostering deep and meaningful friendships.
Thank you to the donors for your generous donations to make this program possible, and to Archbishop Coakley and Bishop Konderla for your support in the revival of Catholic liberal education in your respective dioceses. Thank you for your vision and for investing in your teachers and, therefore, our students.
Thank you to all of our family, friends, colleagues, and school administrators for your unwavering support and flexibility as we took the time to grow in knowledge and understanding, so that we can more fully carry out our charisms and vocations as Catholic educators.
Finally, my congratulations and gratitude must be graciously extended to each member of my cohort. I remember leaving the very first retreat in awe of how the Holy Spirit selected each of you and brought us together to collaborate, learn, and grow in this vocation. We are here not by accident but by His holy providence, and I am profoundly grateful for the special and unique gifts each of you bring to this cohort. I am a better educator because of each of you.
So, what does it truly mean to be an educator grounded in the tradition of Catholic liberal education?
Good teaching always begins with the “end” in sight, so this “telos” is where we logically begin. It is the purpose for which all Catholic educators work tirelessly and pray relentlessly: preparing and guiding our students to their true end, which is heaven. As Father Michael Gaitley writes in The “One Thing” is Three, the Trinity is the Great Circle of Being between God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Gaitley 58). It is a Dance with the exchange of self-giving love in which we, by our very nature, were created with the specific purpose of participating in this exchange through Christ (Gaitley 58). This imagery, rooted in proper Christian anthropology, portrays the true nature of our students, reminding us that they too were created to participate in this Dance once they reach their end.
It is our mission as Catholic educators to help each and every one of our students reach this end through our discipleship. As disciples of Christ, we do not view the purpose of education solely as cultivating efficiency, productivity, and usefulness within our students. Our mission as Catholic educators is to inspire wonder and awe, cultivating a love of wisdom by nourishing the body, intellect, and soul of each and every child who enters through our classroom doors.
Dr. Ryan Messmore, Director of the Credential Program, Mrs. Becky White, CEFC program graduate and speaker, and David Dean, Superintendent of the Diocese of Tulsa Catholic Schools.
Each interaction with a child, whether it’s teaching a math problem, tying a shoe, or disciplining unwanted behavior, is with the profound knowledge that we are also interacting with Christ.
This is where we, as educators, become disciplined ourselves, growing in humility, fortitude, and faith. The pedagogy in which this wisdom is cultivated and nourished, while keeping human dignity intact, was born from the relationship between Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome. It is a marriage between faith and reason. The fruit of this marriage was the birth of Catholic liberal education, which forms the whole child, ensuring inherent dignity always stays intact, and young students are formed into lifelong learners, and ultimately, disciples.
Christ the Teacher has laid the foundation for this pedagogy, and He is our Mentor. So, my dear friends, let’s continue on our mission to educate and disciple these young souls to not only help prepare them for this Great Dance; but with hope to reach our own true end, and participate in this Dance with them.
2025 CEFC graduates from the Diocese of Tulsa.