Approximately five years ago, Mark Schumacher, AHA theology teacher, and his friend and former AHA teacher Paul Ruhland approached someone at the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Conference in Chicago about potentially writing a teacher's manual for the Introduction to Catholic Ethics textbooks they had both been using. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic shortly thereafter, their idea fell to the wayside. According to Mark, “Paul and I didn't really think anything would come of it. Then, in 2022, NCEA reached out to see if we were still interested. We still had the initial plan and framework from earlier, so we used our summer break to write the teacher’s manual.”

NCEA summarized the book release, sharing, “Schumacher and Ruhland’s newly released Introduction to Catholic Ethics Teacher Resource Guide jumpstarts students’ understanding of Catholic ethics as the stimulus to Christian decision-making - not just in this life, but for eternal life. The Resource Guide uses carefully curated chapter summaries; definitions of key terms and concepts; and sample student responses to free-response questions to help direct the teaching of Catholic ethics. The Introduction to Catholic Ethics Teacher Resource Guide is a culmination of tested and refined information to help guide teachers' use of the textbook and formulate questions to spark conversation and debate to help students develop a sound approach to making ethical decisions, in the hope of living a virtuous and happy life."

Mark has worked at Academy of Holy Angels as a theology teacher since 2018, and he began his role as Theology Department Chair in 2024. He has played an integral role at AHA in building the culture of service within the students, and he oversees the school’s annual School Service Day every spring. "I never thought I'd publish anything in my life, but having a printed book with my name on the front and my picture on the back is a great feeling! Being able to share best practices and ideas for teaching ethics to high schoolers based on the Introduction to Catholic Ethics textbook was a great opportunity to show off the work put forth in developing the Moral Philosophy course, a course that I hope to be both intellectually challenging and personally meaningful for students. I am hopeful that other teachers of ethics around the country will find our ideas helpful as they develop their own courses."

The book can be purchased online HERE.