Portland Magazine
August 4, 2023
The first year of teaching is hard. Ryan Darmody ’97 knows this, has lived it himself, and he decided to return to The Bluff because he knows that providing strong support for young educators can set them up for a successful career in the field.
Ryan is the new Assistant Dean for the Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education. PACE is University of Portland’s two-year graduate teaching program that places first and second-year educators in K-12 Catholic schools across the western United States. During this time, they also live in intentional community and, in the summer, take classes at UP. At the end of the program, they earn a tuition-free master’s degree in education. There are typically about 60 teachers in 38 schools in the program.
Ryan is a big believer in the role and value of a Catholic education. He spent more than 20 years as an educator and knows the Catholic model of teaching the whole-person can make a difference in the lives of both the learner and the teacher—and the community. “I know because I’ve lived it,” he says.
He wants young, burgeoning teachers to experience the richness of this career path as well. “We want to create lifelong educators. We want them not just to survive as teachers but to thrive as teachers. We want them to say about their jobs: This doesn’t drain me; it feeds me.” He believes all of this is possible with the right support system in place.
Those first couple of years present a host of challenges: learning how to manage a class of students, how to plan, how to make hundreds of snap decisions in a day. He compares the profession’s pace to that of an air traffic controller. “But even they get a mandated break every hour. Teachers don’t get that. Education isn’t set up that way.” He says the first couple of years are about building up “moral stamina.” And by living in community with other young educators, PACE teachers have the support they need to navigate even the choppiest waters.
He looks to the recent graduating class of PACE teachers as a glowing example of all the program does to set its participants up for success. Of the 30 educators graduating, 26 have next-step jobs in Catholic schools. “The program is working. It’s effective,” he says. And he wants the world to know about it.
Learn More About the PACE Program
If you or someone you know might be interested in learning more about the PACE program, please contact pace@up.edu. Ryan is ready to talk to anyone who wants to explore teaching as a career option. You don’t need to have been an education major. If, for instance, you’re a chemistry major who has decided lab work isn’t the right career path, or a business major who has decided the corporate sector isn’t providing the career arc you wanted, give Ryan a call and talk to him about options for becoming a high school chemistry or economics teacher. He wants to hear from you. He wants to tell you about some of the options out there that will harness your knowledge to benefit the next generation and society as a whole.
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