News & Events
World Religions topic at UMass conference
Braintree, MA .. September 2, 2011…Archbishop Williams High School Theology teacher, Robert Brearley was guest speaker at the University of Massachusetts in Boston this month.
Mr. Brearley teaches World Religions, a course for students in their senior year at Archbishop Williams High School. “Teaching this course has been a wonderful experience for me,” remarked Brearley, “it has enriched my life on many levels. This class has awarded me the opportunity to reach out into the "world of religion" by inviting guest speakers, representatives of various traditions, into my classroom. My students and I have gained so much from these visitors.”
Baifeng Sun is the Director of The Confucian Institute at UMass Boston and has been a guest speaker in Brearley’s classroom for many years. Baifeng typically lectures Archbishop Williams students on the life of Confucius.
This summer, Baifeng hosted a series of lectures at the UMass Boston campus. Educators and administrators from a Chinese high school affiliated with Renmin University of China visited UMass.
Both Mr. Brearley and Dr. Carmen Mariano, President of Archbishop Williams High School made presentations to these international educational leaders. Dr. Mariano presented on the topic of school leadership. "I learned more from them than they learned from me" said Mariano. "It was an honor for me to join them after they had come so far. They were very complimentary of the things we are doing at AWHS. That made me proud."
Brearley’s lecture was entitled The Value of Religion in Education. The inquisitive audience asked many questions about religion, American schools and God. “It was a true privilege to be there. New relationships were forged on this day. Our hope is that this new connection will benefit both schools in the future.”
