CATCA 2025: Full Schedule

COMPLETE THE CATCA 2025 SURVEY TO IMPROVE FUTURE CONVENTION

CLOSURE REMARKS FROM CATCA 2025!

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THE CONVENTION AND FOR CATCA 2026 WILL HAPPEN ON FEBRUARY 19 AND 20, 2026 AT RDP.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM YOUR ATA LOCALS.

All pre-recording videos will be up until May 31st.

9:00am MST

The Soul of AI: Do Artificial Intelligence machines have souls?

Thursday February 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Increasingly sophisticated displays of artificial intelligence such as CHATGPT has elicited variegated responses ranging from experts decrying the need for regulation to educators embracing new possibilities for lesson planning and student learning. While many marvel at the alacrity by which AI churns out elaborate responses, AI is forcing people to ask themselves questions such as “what exactly divides humanity from machines?” This talk, designed for religious educators, delves into that question. One obvious answer is that machines don’t have souls. But is that really the case? And if so, why? Here we look at what exactly is a soul in light of Sacred Scripture as well as ancient and modern philosophy with the aim of better grasping what human-AI distinctions.

Speakers

Gerard Mclarney

Teacher, Elk Island Catholic Schools

Dr. McLarney teaches at St. Isidore Learning Center in Sherwood Park AB., and serves as a sessional instructor at St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta. His academic interests include Religious Education, World Religions, J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as Sacred Scripture. His doctorate... Read More →

Thursday February 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Religious & Moral Education (TQS 3), Early Childhood Education (Pre K-K), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 1 (Gr 1-3) | Technology (TQS/LQS 2), Early Childhood Education (Pre K-K), Division 2 (Gr 4-6), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 1 (Gr 1-3)

10:20am MST

A Flat Earth, Dinosaurs, and the Divine: Can Religion and Science get along?

Thursday February 20, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Secondary students often assume that Religion and Science are inextricably at odds. Even if they can’t articulate exactly why, it is often taken for granted that a person of faith cannot embrace the scientific method and vice versa. This talk dispels caricatures of faithful flat-earthers, delves into the complex relationship between science and religion, considers seminal figures like Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Georges Lamaitre, and gives a framework for understanding how science and religion are not mutually exclusive.

This session dispels perduring caricatures about science and religion, explores seminal thinkers in the field like Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Georges Lamaitre, and gives teachers of Religious Education a framework for understanding how the respective domains of science and religion are by no means mutually exclusive.

Speakers

Gerard Mclarney

Teacher, Elk Island Catholic Schools

Thursday February 20, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Religious & Moral Education (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12) | Science (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

11:40am MST

Gaming, Leisure, and Aesthetics. Are Video Games a Refined Art, Noble Sport or a Superfluous Pastime?

Thursday February 20, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Countless students and adults alike enjoy video games. But what exactly are they? A benign form of recreation, high art, engaging sport, or simply an egregious waste of time? Drawing on the insights of religion and philosophy, from the Bible to contemporary thinkers, this talk explores what the wisdom of the past says about the pursuit of leisure as well as aesthetics and how this applies to video games. It also seeks to provide teachers with novel ideas about how to introduce discussions on the ethics and aesthetics of video games, which students, in turn, can apply to other everyday realities such as sports, music and dance.

Speakers

Gerard Mclarney

Teacher, Elk Island Catholic Schools

Thursday February 20, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Religious & Moral Education (TQS 3), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9) | Technology (TQS/LQS 2), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9) | Career & Technology Studies/Foundations (TQS 3), Division 4 (Gr 10-12), Division 3 (Gr 7-9)

1:00pm MST

The Christ Event and the Religions of the World: A Catholic Perspective of World Religions and the Classroom

Thursday February 20, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Our pluriform society is home to an increasing array of view points and traditions—many of which are informed and sustained by religious conviction. Grasping the fundamentals of world religions is, arguably, paramount for citizens of the 21st century. Yet how can students be equipped for such a task?
The challenge also is particularly pressing for Catholic educators, whose faith tradition, especially since Vatican II, has sought to formulate a theology of World Religions. Moreover, the move to integrate World Religions further into the Religious Education Curriculum has created greater demand for such theological knowledge, language, and vision. This presentation seeks to provide the basic perspectives on how Catholicism views and engages other faith traditions in the 21st century--and proffers various models and analogies for how these views can be presented in the classroom.

Speakers

Gerard Mclarney

Teacher, Elk Island Catholic Schools

Thursday February 20, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Religious & Moral Education (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

2:20pm MST

Why do bad things happen to good people? Approaches to the problem of evil in Religious Education

Thursday February 20, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

In Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest, we hear “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” Though a flippant remark about romance novels, the quip points us to a profound conundrum: how do we make sense of evil and the lack of justice in this world? Weighty queries such as these are among the most challenging posed by students and teachers can find themselves flat footed when asked to account for ruptures in the fabric of life. Designed for Religious Educators, this talk offers educators a variety of models and approaches supplied by the Bible as well as philosophers that can be employed in the classroom.

Speakers

Gerard Mclarney

Teacher, Elk Island Catholic Schools

Thursday February 20, 2025 2:20pm - 3:20pm MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Religious & Moral Education (TQS 3), Division 3 (Gr 7-9), Division 4 (Gr 10-12)

9:00am MST

A year in the life of a music teacher. Let’s talk plans. (ATA Fine Arts Council)

Friday February 21, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Welcome to a workshop on year plans, unit plans and making them work together to make your year go smoothly. We will talk tips and tricks and look at a few examples. Along the way we will hit topics like assessment and technology. Let’s make those long-range plans and unit plans workable documents that you refer to all year long. Bring a device if possible.

Speakers

Amanda Clark

music representative, Fine Arts Council

Amanda Clark is a dynamic elementary music teacher in Leduc, inspiring young minds in both French and English classrooms for over a decade. A versatile educator, she also shares her love of music through private lessons, including the renowned Music for Young Children program. Amanda's... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Music & Band (TQS 3), Division 1 (Gr 1-3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6)

10:20am MST

French music resources (ATA Fine Arts Council)

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Looking for some new music in French! We’ll have a general overview of a few French music resources and look at a couple specific examples from each. Including: Amuse-bouche and Par Choeur music series.

Speakers

Amanda Clark

music representative, Fine Arts Council

Friday February 21, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Music & Band (TQS 3), Division 1 (Gr 1-3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6) | French & International Languages (TQS 3), Division 1 (Gr 1-3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6)

11:40am MST

Sound and lighting equipment 101 (ATA Fine Arts Council)

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Geared towards the music teacher, this session will discuss basic sound and lighting equipment for performances. We will touch on what to rent, how to set it up and hook everything up and how to run it.

Speakers

Amanda Clark

music representative, Fine Arts Council

Friday February 21, 2025 11:40am - 12:40pm MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

Music & Band (TQS 3), Division 1 (Gr 1-3), Division 2 (Gr 4-6)

1:00pm MST

The Science of Language Learning for Schools and Homes

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST

RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)

This presentation will outline how successful language learning happens throughout a child's development. The structure will be to answer the following questions by outlining the latest research and then providing examples from in-school experience.
1) What is unique about child language learning, and how is it different from animal communication, and AI-based language?
2) When does child language learning begin and what are the critical periods for language learning?
3) Who are the people that an ideal language development community requires?
4) Where are the spaces that language learning occurs most successfully?
5) How can home and school contexts be transformed into language-rich environments?
6) Why is language development so vital to a child's social, academic, and future vocational success?
7) Which changes can be made immediately and which changes take time?
Each of these questions will be answered in a way that attendees can understand the findings, as well as the implications and opportunities for the classroom.

Speakers

Michael Witten

Speech-Language Pathologist

Since becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist in 2015, Michael Witten has worked as a school-based SLP, run a private practice, and taught First Language Acquisition at TWU. He has shared about the Science of Language Learning in numerous school district Pro-D events and for school... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 3:20pm MST
RDP Room AC222 (Arts Centre)