Let's see. I had a sweet potato pie from Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch restaurant, "so light it can float like a feather," according to the menu, and one prize bottle of St. Aloysius wine from a Jesuit vineyard in Australia. I was joining a group of student teachers for dinner at their apartment near Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, and I was just checking on my contributions.

My dining companions were going to be Alexandra Swett, from West Covina, Calif.; Karina Moreno, from La Puente, Calif.; and Jamie Collins, originally from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. A fourth student teacher, Dung Tran, an Angeleno and a recent graduate of Loyola Marymount, could not join us as he was helping his mother that evening.

Dung Tran shares his knowledge of music and computers with the K-through-eighth-graders at Our Lady Help of Christians in East Los Angeles. He's among the first fourteen to enroll in Loyola Marymount University's Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education (PLACE) program: two years of teaching and studying will net him on-the-job experience, a teaching certificate, and an MA in education.

These students are part of the first group, fourteen all told, who make up the newly developed PLACE (Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education) Corps, headquartered at LMU. While living in community, these energetic students teach for two years in underserved Catholic schools in the archdiocese while pursuing master's degrees in teaching and state teaching credentials.

I drove up the dimly lit streets to their apartment house in Mar Vista. Parking was not as easy as I had hoped, but I found a spot a block and half away. Jamie greeted me at the door and informed me that the women had gone to pick up dinner, carryout from a California Pizza Kitchen where Karina had worked while an undergrad. Dinner consisted of various salads and two gourmet pizzas: rosemary potatoes and chicken on one, a combination of vegetables not previously introduced to one another-very California-on the other. The St. Aloysius wine (I had been saving it for a special occasion) complemented everything and prompted my hosts to pass a motion adopting St. Aloysius as the patron of their community.

I asked if they did much of their own cooking, but they conceded that they often got takeout from any number of inexpensive ethnic restaurants nearby. The responsibilities of class preparation, teaching, graduate classes, and the unforgiving Los Angeles commute sometimes overwhelmed them and kept them out of the kitchen.

I had not seen these students since just before Christmas break. Now, one semester under their belts, they were teachers and would have some perspective and experience to share on PLACE.

Jamie majored in English at St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo, California. It's no secret that he is still discerning the possibility of priesthood. When the archdiocese's vocation director Fr. Dick Martini was at the LMU Jesuit community for dinner recently, he told me, "We want Jamie back!" I responded, "I can understand why!" Jamie is a wonderful, energetic teacher who captivated me with his classes on Shakespeare and James Joyce when I observed him at his teaching site, Sacred Heart High School for girls.

IN PLACE Loyola Marymount University's PLACE Corps (Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education) is a two-year program for recent college grads that combines studies toward a master's in education and teaching credentials with teaching at an inner-city archdiocesan school. Last summer fourteen men and women began the program. LMU's dean of education Fr. Albert Koppes, O. Carm., modeled PLACE after the national Alliance in Catholic Education program (ACE). Headquartered at Notre Dame, ACE responds to a nationwide shortage of teachers for Catholic grade schools by supplying teachers to schools in need while forming leaders for the future of Catholic education. These concepts are at the heart of the PLACE Corps, which emphasizes spirituality, community, and professional development in the field of education. "This program provides the archdiocese with a steady stream of enthusiastic, energetic, quality teachers," says Diana Murphy, director of PLACE. "Our teachers have the opportunity to live the Jesuit ideal of service to others." Murphy developed the partnership between LMU, Notre Dame, and the archdiocese that made PLACE a reality. It was L.A.'s Cardinal Mahony who celebrated a commissioning mass for the first PLACE teachers and followed that with a cookout for them at his home last summer. For further information on the PLACE Corps: www.lmu.edu/education/PLACE For further information on ACE: www.nd.edu/~ace

Jamie discovered PLACE by accident but felt it would be the perfect community for his discernment between priesthood and teaching. He also announced that he would be attending his first prom this spring, serving as chaperon and escorting Kris McCue, another PLACE Corps student living in another of the four PLACE communities. Alexandra Swett, a Cal Poly liberal arts major who teaches fourth grade at Our Lady Help of Christians School in East L.A., echoed some of Jamie's expectations of community support. She was very attracted to a community-life situation where responsibilities and resources would be shared; it was going to make the shift from being an undergraduate to working full time a little easier. She also wanted to stay in school and work on a degree, and she was excited about teaching right away instead of at the end of a program.

"I really enjoy teaching; sometimes I think, 'Am I supposed to be having this much fun?' " says Karina Moreno, a former psych and Spanish major at Loyola Marymount. Here she's doing some serious poring over her sixth graders' math homework at St. Turibius in a Hispanic section of Los Angeles; many students' parents work in factories in the neighborhood. Oh, the cowgirl hat? It was "Western Day" at school.

Karina Moreno ("Mother Superior" to her housemates) is very clear about her attraction to PLACE: "I didn't want to leave LMU!" Karina was very involved in campus life and service organizations. "I had such positive experiences at LMU that I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. We lived the motto being 'men and women for others.' We were called to be ourselves while helping others. PLACE had everything I wanted: community, teaching in an inner-city school, being connected with Loyola Marymount; it was an answer to a prayer."

When I think of my first visit to Karina's school, St. Turibius, I remember so vividly the dark red brick building near the doorstep of L.A.'s downtown skyline. Just outside her classroom is a tangle of freeways, warehouses, blacktop, and razor wire fences. Inside are colorful bulletin boards, a prayer table with a statue of Mary, the Scriptures, an engaging seating arrangement, order, purpose, dignity, and large scoops of humor.

Karina remembered her first day of teaching. "I went in with a very naïve mentality. I knew that my students would give me trouble, but I never imagined they would tear me apart the first day! That made me put things into perspective, such as my discipline plan and my classroom management. I recovered pretty quickly, and I couldn't be happier with another class. I really enjoy teaching; sometimes I think, 'Am I supposed to be having this much fun?' " On Back-to-School Night, Karina got applause for her efforts by the parents who saw the strides she was making with their children.

Jamie and Alex are new to Jesuit education. I wondered what their impressions were about that thrust of their experience. "I do feel something different," Alex commented, "and I believe it's the community we share."

Jamie Collins, a graduate of St. John's Seminary in California, captivates his audience at Sacred Heart, a girls' high school in East L.A. Among the first participants in Loyola Marymount University's PLACE program, he is spending two years teaching at Sacred Heart, working on an MA in education, and thinking about the future, maybe the priesthood. Meantime he'll be talking about Shakespeare, working on the school's Kairos retreats, and chaperoning an upcoming prom.

"At a Jesuit school there is something you don't get at other places," Jamie added. "Everything is infused with being someone for others. PLACE is not just about getting my master's; Ignatian spirituality is more than doing things to better yourself; it is doing things in such a way that considers others and their needs." I had met the four soon after I arrived at LMU last summer with a brand-new doctorate from the University of San Francisco. Diana Murphy, PLACE's director, hosted a barbecue where most of the PLACE group met for the first time. We got to know one another much better at an orientation retreat at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. That seemed like a long time ago to all of us as we sampled chips and artichoke and spinach dip. I was curious about their experience of prayer in community.

What will the future hold for the more than 100,000 students at the 277 elementary and 51 high schools in the Los Angeles archdiocese? Loyola Marymount University's PLACE program seeks to train teachers not only to work at the schools but to take leadership roles in the future of Catholic education.

"We're comfortable with prayer and reflection," says Karina, "but we don't always structure time for it. Dung is always playing liturgical music anyway!" They remembered that Dung had once said that if the group was forced into prayer times and exercises, it could become a chore, and they had all agreed. On weekends they sometimes attend mass together, sometimes go different ways. There is a natural and mature approach to spirituality in the house that animates their lives and work.

The two-bedroom, two-bath apartment was simply appointed. I received apologies about the appearance of the place, but I told them not to worry; I had signed my initials on an undisclosed dusty surface and would check for them on the next visit. Each community member pays a share of the rent, phone, and food (medical insuran ce is deducted from their salaries) but ends up with some discretionary money as well at the end of the month, on average around $350. Karina and Alex save some money each month, while Jamie is paying off student loans.

One on one-a fourth grader at Our Lady Help of Christians School in East L.A. gets the attention of PLACE participant Alexandra Swett. "Like those sisters, priests, and brothers of an earlier generation," says author Michael Caruso, SJ, "these young teachers are replicating that selfless dedication as men and women for others who established the U.S. Catholic school system."

Did the coed living arrangements raise any eyebrows among families and friends? Yes, it did. Karina said that her parents were a bit wary of the situation but felt more at ease after getting to know Alex, Jamie, and Dung. I asked the women if they could hear those two buzzsaws Jamie and Dung at night. (When on retreat last summer, Jamie and Dung's room was right across the hall from mine, and, gentle readers, these gentlemen can do some serious snoring.) Karina and Alex laughed and said it was not a major problem. Just below their good-natured teasing is a deep respect and care for one another.

One focus of my work at LMU is preparing professionals for leadership in the Catholic school system. We often stand in awe of the religious women and men who sacrificed and taught millions of children over the years. With their diminishment in numbers, the PLACE Corps seems like a gift from God. Like those sisters, priests, and brothers of an earlier generation, these young teachers are replicating that selfless dedication as men and women for others who established the U.S. Catholic school system. Their enthusiasm and sense of joy is exciting, a sign of optimism. I know that they will be successful in the PLACE Corps and at their schools; my hope is that they will fall in love with Catholic education and become lifelong professionals in this vital Church ministry.

Fr. Michael Caruso, SJ, assistant professor of edu-cation at Loyola Marymount University, works in the area of Catholic educational leadership. He describes himself as a "friend, supporter, and professor with a vested interest" in the PLACE program. He will teach a course for PLACE participants on the foundations of Catholic education next fall.