Between the two of them, Tom and Rebecca Malone have worked at some of the Baltimore area's most prestigious independent schools. Today, they are both serving as administrators at two Baltimore Archdiocesan schools where they are bringing their passion and experience to students in disadvantaged neighborhoods. It's not the first time the couple has gone down this path. Tom, the principal at Cristo Rey Jesuit High Schooland Rebecca, principal of St. Francis of Assisi School discovered their mutual interest as Harvard University students.
On Friday, October 21, the pair will be in Boston where they will be presented with the 2011 Expanding Horizons EV Service Award. The couple is being honored for their roles in the founding and early years of an after-school tutoring program called Earthen Vessels, which paired students of the Harvard Catholic Center, with disadvantaged Boston schoolchildren. In the past 31 years, some 400 children and 300 Harvard students have participated in the program. On average, the children spend 6 ½ years in this very intensive, high-impact program.
"When I first began my journey as an educator, it was in a setting -- the Earthen Vessels program -- where prayer and a faith community nurtured and supported the work of teaching," explains Rebecca. "Over time I have been fortunate to have had wonderful experiences as a teacher and administrator in some of Baltimore's finest independent schools. Being back in an urban parochial school, though, truly feels like coming home. I love being in a place where I can once again ground my work as an educator in the context of prayer and faith."
The Harvard Years
In 1985, Rebecca Sheridan, a student leader at the Harvard Catholic Center, helped the Earthen Vessels summer camp program expand into a tutoring program during the academic year. The program provided Harvard students with the opportunity to tutor needy elementary and middle school students and included an opportunity for a weekly gathering for reflection and support—all through the lens of Catholic social teaching.
She later invited fellow Harvard student Tom Malone to participate in the program, and they both discovered a vocation for teaching and service.
Couple collects degrees, experience
Upon graduation from Harvard in 1986, Rebecca took a job teaching 5thgrade at a Bronx parochial school. Tom later took a job at the same school while Rebecca completed a master’s degree in English education from Teachers College of Columbia University. In addition to his Harvard degree, Tom also holds a B.Ed. in secondary education from University of Brunswick in Canada. Tom received master’s degrees in political science and in curriculum/global education from University of Toronto. In 2006, he completed coursework in school administration and supervision at Loyola University Maryland.
During their two decades of marriage, Tom and Rebecca have taught in schools in Canada, Massachusetts and Baltimore. Locally, both Tom and Rebecca have worked at The Park School. Before serving as the principal of Cristo Rey Jesuit, Tom taught at Maryvale Preparatory School and served as academic dean of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. Before coming to St. Francis, Rebecca was head of the middle school at Roland Park Country School and she also taught at The John Carroll School.
Congratulations to the Malones and to the children who benefit from their devotion.
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