Meeting Summary: St. Teresa Catholic School AI Education Vision

Overview

Gary Sheng visited St. Teresa Catholic School in Austin for an in-person meeting with Chris Treadaway (COO), Brian Wheeler (Principal), and Chase Crouse (Pastoral Associate for Evangelization). The discussion centered on developing a pilot program for AI-integrated Catholic education, with particular focus on gifted and talented programming and youth-led church revitalization. All participants expressed strong enthusiasm for collaboration, with Brian Wheeler describing the meeting as having "a divine current."

Pre-Meeting: Phone Call with Ida Villavicencio

Youth-Led Church Revitalization Vision

Gary articulated vision developed with Ida for students as leaders of their parish:

• Modernizing operations: Students help with marketing systems, CRM, youth programs
• Revenue generation: Creative approaches to increasing tithes, school growth, local business partnerships
• Real-world application: Students managing advertising partnerships, selling ads through church
• Motivation alignment: "If they feel like what they're learning is not practically applicable to real life... it's just gonna be totally unmotivating"

Application Philosophy

"A big part of the application process is just like, are you open to helping revitalize your local community and your church in the local community? If you're not, like, this is not for you."

Catholic Schools as Opportunity

• Compared Catholic schools to "Blackberry" with opportunity to create "iPhone"
• Catholic hierarchy's approval requirements create barrier to experimentation
• Unless connected to "dictator of the archdiocese" - experimentation is difficult
• Gary noted he has connections to decision-makers who could approve experiments

Prenda CEO Connection

• Prenda CEO subscribed to Gary's Substack after head of sales (Mormon) mentioned Gary
• Gary emailed both CEO and head of sales expressing interest in recommending Prenda
• Noted: "No one is articulating a vision of faith-led schools like what we have done on this call"

Main Meeting: St. Teresa Campus

Participant Introductions

Brian Wheeler (Principal)

• 30+ years in education, 21 years as Catholic school principal
• Founded Holy Cross Academy in Ecuador (6 years, 33 graduates)
• Married with six children (ages 11-27), two currently at St. Teresa
• Cradle Catholic who reverted in late 20s
• Lives two blocks from campus, walks to work

Chase Crouse (Pastoral Associate for Evangelization)

• Just returned to St. Teresa ~6 weeks prior (previously left in 2022)
• CEO/Co-founder of Hypuro Fit (Catholic fitness app)
• Currently implementing AI in app (meal planning, macro tracking)
• Handles all ministry and catechetical matters under Father Larry
• Master's in Biblical Theology from John Paul the Great Catholic University

Gary's Background Shared

Journey Summary:

• Grew up outside Chicago to non-believing parents
• Great-grandfather was pastor in China (learned this only a year ago)
• Attended Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (boarding school)
• Duke computer science, Google Cloud software engineer
• Dancing Pineapple (concerts/parties), online activism (police brutality awareness)
• Founded Civics Unplugged (trained 2,000 kids, Andrew Yang and The Rock support)
• Ethereum Foundation grant for youth blockchain education
• Co-living experiments in Montenegro, Istanbul, Denver
• Vatican digital transformation project (2024) - didn't proceed due to Pope's health and Cardinal politics
• Gauntlet AI bootcamp (graduated #1), recruited by Joe Liemandt to Alpha Schools
• Left Alpha after discovering it was "house of cards" with no real business model

On Alpha Schools:

"The level of marketing that they've put in to a level of reality that just not even close... multiple staff people just putting out constant fires so there isn't a PR crisis all the time."

Alpha's Real Model:

• Hire very well-paid SAT/ACT tutors drilling kids (no AI involved)
• Point to test scores from already high-achieving affluent kids
• Point to "projects" that kids would create regardless of $40K/year school
• LA archdiocese leader told them: "Before you scale, have a proof of concept that works"

Catholic Education History (Brian Wheeler)

Historical Arc:

• Late 19th century: Catholic schools emerge due to anti-Catholic sentiment in public schools
• Parochial schools in ethnic neighborhoods (German, Polish) taught in native languages + English
• Primarily staffed by clergy and religious (nuns, brothers)
• 1962: Peak enrollment - 6.5 million students (US population ~150M)
• Post-Vatican II: Decline begins, laity replaces religious
• Laity requires different compensation than religious orders
• Schools drift toward "private school" mentality, sacrificing Catholic identity for academics
• Today: Under 2 million students despite doubled US population
• Catholic population percentage unchanged (20-25%), but not in Catholic schools

Brian's Observation:

"There was that thread... this idea of like, we're all about the high academic standards. And oh, yes, we go to mass once a week, but the high academic standards kind of thing."

Vision Development: Gifted & Talented + Entrepreneurship

The Gap:

• St. Teresa struggles to offer gifted and talented programming (economic constraints)
• Parents complain about lack of offerings for kids making 98-99 in every class
• High-achieving kids are bored; same offering as struggling students
• Every Catholic school has this problem due to economics

Chris's Enrichment Concept:

• Current electives rotate every 9 weeks: watercolor, art, theater, Python, basketball
• Vision: Year-long "Gifted and Talented" elective for identified 7th-8th graders
• 10-12 high-potential students selected by principal and assistant principal
• Format similar to GT programs elsewhere: deep dives into subjects not in curriculum
• Example: 9 weeks Kubrick → 9 weeks Hitchcock → 9 weeks Tarantino → final project creating own film

Business Opportunity Identified:

• Catholic schools nationwide need: Latin, Gifted & Talented, specialized offerings
• Virtual/hybrid delivery at lower cost than fully staffing classroom ($100K)
• If priced at $40-50K annually, could scale across diocese and beyond
• Chris previously asked Alpha about licensing enrichment only - they refused

Youth-Led Church Operations Model

Gary's Vision:

• Students build future of their parishes through real projects
• Examples: community garden, modernizing marketing/CRM, helping school operations
• Current education fails to prepare kids for real-world usefulness
• Campus as community center, not just for kids
• Kids have "huge role to play" in making it self-sustaining hub

Concrete Applications:

• Spring/summer/fall internships with parent business owners
• Student-run agency helping Catholic parish/school systems modernize
• Pilot with 10 most entrepreneurial kids → scale after success stories
• Creates "circular economy" of Catholic marketplace and spirituality

Brian's Response:

"If they're not, if our middle school students are having opportunities to do stuff like that... we won't have enough space for the number of people who want to be here."

Chase's Contribution: Catholic Technical Excellence

Philosophy:

"We want to be authentically Catholic, but like technically excellent. For a long time, the church... they've kind of used the excuse, oh, we're a church. So like we can offer subpar things... it just doesn't work."

Potential Student Pipeline:

• Students could intern with parish entrepreneurs like Chase
• Formation experience should connect to real business opportunities
• "Once I'm ready and useful enough to Chase, I should be able to intern with Chase"

Strategic Advantages at St. Teresa

Ingredients in Place:

• Supportive pastor (Father Larry)
• Forward-thinking principal (Brian Wheeler) - "pretty rare in my experience"
• Tech-forward parent community with enthusiasm for modernization
• Supportive superintendent (Misty Pote) willing to advocate with TCCB
• COO with business acumen (Chris Treadaway)
• Access to approval chains "all the way up"

Brian on Subsidiarity:

"The subsidiarity that we enjoy is really an advantage. No two Catholic schools in our diocese are exactly the same, nor are they governed the same."

Prenda Discussion

What Prenda Offers:

• Micro school platform/OS with support structure
• Math tutors available remotely for students
• Over 1,000 pods helped into existence
• "Humble vibe" - very different from Alpha

Gary's Recent Discovery:

• Monday call with Prenda head of sales (believer)
• Asked about church-based pods - "yes, Florida is predecessor to what will happen"
• Florida has ESA program; church-based schools adopting first

Fit Assessment:

• Prenda is "all-in-one micro school OS"
• May not fit enrichment model where kids still take normal classes
• Better fit might be program director + project-based entrepreneurship track
• Less technology needed, more about the guide and structure

Next Steps & Timeline

Immediate:

• August launch target for pilot program
• Can't do things midstream in school year
• Gary to send research notes on Prenda
• Gary planning phone call with Prenda CEO

Pilot Structure Discussed:

• 10-15 kids in gifted track
• Program lead/guide supporting students
• Mostly project-based learning
• North Star: "Training the next generation of proudly Catholic leaders"
• Kids plugged into process of constantly identifying ways to improve ecosystem

Presentation Goal:

• Brian: "If we can be on a stage in 18 months at NCA"
• NCA = National Catholic Educational Association conference
• Would be standing room only if presenting successful model

Campus Tour Highlights

Facilities:

• 22-acre campus with 10 acres of greenbelt
• Pre-K through 8th grade (360 students, expecting 380-400 next year)
• Space-constrained: gym doubles as cafeteria
• Recent improvements: fencing, basketball goals, artificial turf, playground, gym renovation
• 2023 National Blue Ribbon School

Operational Changes Under Chris:

• Secure perimeter added (previously neighbors walked dogs on campus)
• Rebranding from 80s-era Jerusalem Cross design
• Gym renovation was "burning the boats" moment to rebuild trust
• Tuition raised 7-10% annually for three years, improving customer base
• Drama/theater department brought back after budget cuts

Key Quotes

Brian Wheeler on Divine Providence:

"I don't think there are accidents. I don't think things are coincidental. I think connections are made, you know, trips to Rome and people who connect and then opportunities and where we are."

Brian on Impact:

"That's why I'm in education. That's the real payoff to me... I can physically look on my Facebook feed... I know I made a difference in those kids' lives."

Brian on Readiness:

"I'm ready to clear my desk of every other project that's in my head and just go, okay, let's get busy and start working on something that's going to elevate Catholic education and the Catholic church."

Chris on Pressure:

"Six weeks from Rome, I find I'm under immense personal pressure to do something. I've got to do something meaningful big time... I cannot let this moment in time pass without really taking a swing in a big way."

Chris on Educator Partnership:

"Guys like you and I can't do this without him. We would get kicked out of the room saying the same damn thing."

Gary on Catholic Civics:

"In the Catholic context, the default isn't to run for secular office. It's to support St. Teresa, for example. That's civics. That's where it should start at minimum."

Gary on Circular Economy:

"If the best internships... are coming from the Catholic world and it becomes like this circular economy of Catholic marketplace and spirituality, you just crush the competition because there's so much love as well that's being poured by these parent business owners."

Action Items / Takeaways

1. Gary: Send Prenda research notes to Chris and Brian
2. Gary: Schedule call with Prenda CEO for sanity check
3. Team: Develop enrichment/GT pilot proposal for August 2025 launch
4. Brian: Identify high-potential 7th-8th grade students and interested parents
5. Brian: Prepare to present model to superintendent Misty Pote
6. Chris: Continue AI elective course development for January
7. Long-term: Target NCA conference presentation in 18 months
8. Gary: Continue conversion/RCIA process (implied)

Observations

Team Dynamic:

• Chris brings business acumen and operational rigor
• Brian brings education credibility and 30+ years experience
• Chase brings ministry expertise and entrepreneurial model
• Gary brings tech vision and AI methodology
• Complementary skills with shared Catholic mission

Readiness Assessment:

• All ingredients present for successful pilot
• Strong enthusiasm from all parties
• Clear path through approval chains
• August timeline is achievable
• Parent community likely receptive

Risk Factors:

• Can't disrupt existing curriculum too drastically
• Parent community needs education on "why this is good"
• Faculty/staff training required
• Must maintain academic excellence while innovating