About

As a religion teacher or catechist, you need practical resources and teaching strategies to help you meet your students’ greatest needs. They need your help. They need you to be the best teacher you can be.

Whether you are a veteran teacher or have no educational background at all, you will find the practical resources, activities, lesson plans, prayers, and teaching strategies to be great supplements to your catechetical work.


“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

About Jared Dees

Jared C. Dees is the Digital Publishing Specialist at Ave Maria Press. He develops catholic textbooks and other catechetical materials for teens and teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. Jared has taught religion at both the middle school and high school level, led and directed numerous retreats for students, and continues to volunteer as a catechist at his parish. He founded The Religion Teacher to help meet the needs of elementary, middle, and high school religion teachers and catechists who deserve high-quality, practical catechetical resources.

Jared studied history and religion at Miami University (OH) and then went on to earn his Master’s in Education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. He is currently working towards a Master of Arts in Systematic Theology at Notre Dame. Jared, his wife Jennifer, and their daughters live in South Bend, Indiana.

You can follow Jared on twitter or join his network on LinkedIn.

You can also check out his other website about developing good prayer habits at prayerhabits.com.

*The content expressed at The Religion Teacher is the responsibility of Jared Dees and does not necessarily represent the views of Ave Maria Press, the Alliance for Catholic Education, the University of Notre Dame, or any other entity of the Roman Catholic Church.

Jared is the author of the free eBook, The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. You can get a free copy by signing up for The Religion Teacher email newsletter.