The Xavier sophomore theology department is the largest of all grades and consists of six teachers this year: Kaiti-Lynn Beazely, Anthony DiStefano, Gina Iker, Danielle Lambert, Noah Minton and Sister Theresa Trang. In contrast, the freshwomen, junior and senior classes each have two theology teachers.
Each sophomore-lead teacher teaches from one to three sophomore class periods, due to having other positions around campus.
Three of the six teachers, Beazely, Minton and Lambert, work for the campus ministry. “This year we really wanted to expand our campus ministry team,” Lambert said.
In classes taught by Beazely, Iker, Lambert, Minton and Trang, sophomore students can expect to learn about the Paschal Mystery and the life of Jesus Christ during semester one, and about the Church and Catholic Social Teachings during semester two.
“Sophomore theology is like the juicy stuff that we’re talking about,” said Minton.
Beazely explained her perspective on the curriculum and what that means for her classes.
“I try to make my classes a little bit more personal and talk about ‘this is Jesus, but what does he do for me?’”
DiStefano’s Great Books classes are learning a similar curriculum, but they go to more depth with the philosophy behind religion. Additionally, he integrates a few Shakespeare plays into the class.
“I get to have a little more freedom with the curriculum,” DiStefano said.
There’s a common theme among the teachers when describing what they enjoy about teaching sophomores. They all enjoy watching their students build relationships with God.
“I feel like it’s an exciting time for them and that makes it an exciting time for me, too,” said Minton. Trang also added, “They already know the lay of the land.”
Theology is one of the few classes at Xavier that students are required to take yearly and the theology teachers want students to be excited about the class. “I think students should be excited about theology every year,” Trang said. “Foundation is so important in our faith journey.”
Iker describes the differences between theology and other subjects by interjecting, “Ultimately, this is the subject that will persist into eternity.”
This group of theology teachers truly embodies what it means to teach through their faith. Each one of them shares a uniqueness that they bring to their classrooms.
