Tai Basurto was worried that her life would lack focus and that the commitment to service she had honed while an undergraduate in DePaul University’s School of Education would be lost in the reality of daily teaching demands. That was before the 22-year-old certified teacher was accepted in DePaul’s new Vincentian Urban Educators Program (VUE), a teacher residency program that gives community-minded, recent School of Education graduates the opportunity to teach in urban Catholic Schools while earning master’s degrees.

“I was concerned that my life might become hectic and unfocused once I got in the classroom,” said Basurto, who volunteered extensively as an undergraduate. “The VUE program will alleviate that concern because it is based on service. It will remind me of why I’m a teacher—because teaching is a form of service to the world.”

VUE’s framework began in 2002 after the Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., DePaul’s president, put into action his vision of a teacher residency program to give new teachers a mentored induction to the field of teaching while exploring the profession as a permanent vocation. The program is rooted in DePaul’s Vincentian mission of service, which was espoused by St. Vincent de Paul.

“This program embodies DePaul’s dedication to urban Catholic education through the Vincentian spirit of service,” said Anne Crylen, DePaul’s program coordinator for VUE. “Program participants will receive extensive professional development training and support from a multi-layered support system of DePaul faculty and staff, veteran teachers in their schools and outside resources. The Vincentian model of service and looking at one’s life in a spiritual way is an integral part of the total program.”

Six certified teachers, all of whom graduated from the School of Education in 2002 or 2003, were selected for the first class of VUE which began in August. Each participant lives on DePaul’s campus, where they form a community and learn from each other. An important component of the program is mentoring. The teachers have mentors at DePaul, as well as at the schools where they are assigned to teach.

They currently command classrooms in four Catholic schools that include St. Thomas Canterbury, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, St. Mary of the Lake and Maria High School. VUE teachers do not earn salaries, but instead receive an annual stipend, tuition and housing costs.

The dual teaching and learning component of the program affords the teachers the opportunity to apply to real classroom settings the teaching techniques they learn while studying for their masters’ degrees.

To qualify for the program, candidates must complete an extensive application process that includes composing four essays highlighting such topics as service and teaching philosophy. They also submit letters of recommendation and participate in intensive interviews.

The program gives Chicago’s Catholic schools another resource to attract and retain highly dedicated teachers, which is especially important as their need for non-religious teachers grows. “Last year, only four percent of the Catholic school teachers were religious, and the rest were lay,” said Sr. Margaret Farley, director of school personnel for the Office of Catholic Schools. “Lay teachers make a sacrifice to teach in Catholic schools because the salaries are much lower than in the public schools. What is good about programs like this is that about 75 percent of these teachers stay in education.”