ESF Client Projects...

ESF Introduces Its Competency-Based Training Process to Schools

From the very beginning of its origin, ESF offered its ProTrainer Processes to non-profit organizations and schools of every level from elementary to Post Graduate.

ESF has completed a variety of Workshops and Training Institutes for various schools throughout the country including those listed below.

Interiority-based Approach to Seminarian Training

IPF Mission Statement

The Institute for Priestly Formation, based at Creighton University, Omaha, NE, was founded to assist bishops in the spiritual formation of diocesan seminarians and priests in the Roman Catholic Church. The Institute responds to the need to foster spiritual formation as the integrating and governing principle of all aspects of priestly formation. Inspired by the biblical-evangelical spirituality of Ignatius Loyola, this spiritual formation has as its goal the cultivation of a deep interior communion with Christ; from such communion the priest shares in Christ's own pastoral charity. In carrying out its mission, the Institute directly serves diocesan seminarians and priests as well as those who are responsible for diocesan priestly formation.





Institute for Priestly Formation Sanctuary

In 2003, ESF developed a preliminary Task Analysis and Needs Analysis for the Institute for Priestly Formation. This was the beginning of a project to study how to implement a non-academic, interiority-based approach to seminarian training based on Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation PASTORES DABO VOBIS.



The Task Force's intent was to develop a program for U.S. seminarians that would inculcate within them a deeper spirituality. Courses would follow ESF's IDLS process integrated with the spirituality model so effectively used at the Institute for Priestly Formation.

In addition to the IPF staff, the Task Force included priests and lay persons who are Spiritual Directors, Rectors, and Parish Priests in the Dioceses listed below.

Members of the Task Force included:

Mall at Creighton University, Home of Institute for Priestly Formation, Omaha, NE

Summer Study Programs:
ESF's IDLS, ITS & Web Development Workshops

Aquinas College is a Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located in Nashville, TN, named in honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Aquinas College helps transform students' lives and culture through truth and charity. The primary mission of Aquinas College is to provide an atmosphere of learning permeated with faith, directed to the intellectual, moral and professional formation of the human person.

Aquinas seeks to foster intellectual achievement and personal growth in a socially and economically diverse population. The Christian principles and values enrich students, providing both direction and meaning to student's lives.

During the Summer Session at Aquinas College, ESF ran a 2-week session centering on How to Be an Interactive Instructor and How to Use TaskOutliner to Develop a Website.

At the conclusion of the week, the participants had created an rudimentary website that was used for Sr. Cecilia Motherhouse, home of the Nashville Dominicans.

Mary & Peter's daughter Sr. Rosemary is a member of the Order of St. Dominic.



The Workshop Participants learned pieces from several different programs including:

Aquinas College Campus, Nashville, TN

Introduction to the Internet: In-service Workshop

St. Gertrude School, in Cincinnati, OH, is a Catholic, elementary school in the Dominican tradition. In partnership with parents, They offer children an excellent academic and religious education, providing a Christ-centered atmosphere in which students may grow in knowledge, truth, and love.

St. Gertrude School follows the curriculum outlined in the Grade Course of Studies of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Each Grade Course of Study is aligned with the Ohio Department of Education Academic Content Standards. The teachers of St. Gertrude School develop the performance objectives outlined in each Graded Course of Study with the help of various resources.

ESF did an In-Service Staff Development Workshop for those teachers at St. Gertrude's who wanted to learn in greater depth how to use the Internet. The School had recently put a calendar and a place where teachers could upload assignments for their classes and send messages to the parents of their students.

Mary and Peter had lots of fun with the wonderful teachers while they learned and practiced the skills related to the Internet. One teacher was able to email her grandchildren which was a real thrill to her.


Some of the neat things ESF taught the staff were how to:

Two Sisters walk in St Gertrude School Hall

TaskOutliner Pilot

Washington County Public Schools are located in Western Maryland, as part of the Tri-State area that includes nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia. More than 20-thousand students attend 46 school facilities, administered by nearly 2,500 employees.

Washington County: Smithsburg Middle School

Instructional Technology Training Institute

In 1973, Dr. Peter Esseff was invited to conduct a two-day workshop on individualized instruction for technical and vocational faculty members from all community colleges in the State of Maryland. The sessions were conducted in a completely individualized way, with each participant receiving a set of programmed workbooks, a set of slides and tapes, and the use of a cassette player and a slide projector.

The objective of the workshop was to enable each participant to complete the step-by-step process to develop a module of instruction from his/her own particular field of expertise.

Dr. Esseff coached Participants throughout the sessions to ensure that they met their goals. Participants showed justifiable pride in their efforts as well as eagerness to expand their activity into wider areas of their subject matter.

Prince George's Community College,
Site of the Instructional Technology Training Institute

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

ESF In-service Workshops

In the 1970's, ESF ran a series of In-service Workshops to train the instructors of several Historically Black Colleges to develop instructional materials using ESF's IDLS Process. These educational institutions, now all major universities, are: Coppin State, Morgan State, & Hampton Institute.


The descriptions given below come from their respective websites.

Coppin State University

Coppin State University is a model urban, residential liberal arts university located in the northwest section of the City of Baltimore that provides academic programs in the arts and sciences, teacher education, nursing, graduate studies, and continuing education.

Designated as one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Coppin has a culturally rich history as an institution providing quality educational programs and community outreach services. Coppin offers 53 majors and nine graduate-degree programs.

A fully accredited institution, Coppin serves Baltimore residents as well as students from around the world, with flexible course schedules that include convenient day, evening, and weekend classes and distance learning courses.

Coppin State University Quadrangle

Morgan State University

For over 130 years, Morgan State University has been an important part of the higher education system in the Baltimore area, the State of Maryland, and the nation.

Throughout its history, Morgan has served the community with distinction while meeting the educational needs of an increasingly diverse society.

Its designation as Maryland's Public Urban University assures that Morgan will continue to play a prominent role in Maryland's education future.


Morgan's mission is to serve a multi-ethnic and multi-racial student body and to help ensure that the benefits of higher education are enjoyed by a broad segment of the population.

To accomplish this, the University offers a comprehensive program of studies at the undergraduate level and degrees in selected fields at the master's and doctoral level.



Morgan State University
William Donald Schaefer Engineering Building

Hampton University

Hampton University, a dynamic, progressive institution of higher education, is a privately-endowed, non-profit, non-sectarian, co-educational, historically black university.

It is located in southeastern Virginia and boasts one of the loveliest campuses in the nation, with a picturesque waterfront and historic buildings and landmarks.

Hampton University has grown into a comprehensive university providing a broad range of technical, liberal arts, pre-professional, professional, and graduate degree programs.

It also offers cultural entertainment and athletic events that keep students in touch with the other students and members of the Hampton University family.

Hampton University is a place that values scholarship, talents and achievement. It is also a place that values character. It is a place that believes in integrity, honesty, respect for oneself, respect for others, decency, dignity, responsibility and fairness. It believes in providing an "Education for Life" to the whole person.

Hampton University Skyline

Sound-Page Technology Introduced at Vocational School

The Victor Cullen Center, a secure commitment facility for delinquent boys in a rural area outside of Sabillasville, in Frederick County, MD, was placed under the direction of Maryland's Juvenile Services in 1967. The site contains approximately 500 acres. A gymnasium and modular school building are near the center of the campus. The administration building, the Cullen Building, was constructed in 1946. When last occupied by Juvenile Services, it housed offices on the first level, as well as a kitchen and dining facility in a wing that was added in 1955. Victor Cullen Center was closed for a time but reopened in 2004 and is used as a regional Detention Center where the boys can be closer to their homes. Victor Cullen is part of the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Juvenile Services.

In the mid-1970s, ESF conducted several workshops to train the staff of Victor Cullen Vocational School to develop instructional materials for 3M's Sound-Page System.

Sound-Pages, a "new" technology developed by 3M (and a precursor to Kindle Audiobooks), were used because the boys at the detention center had difficulty reading and focusing on their studies. The Sound-Page materials allowed them not only to see the pages, but also to hear it. All the information was provided in small bites so the learners could focus on small bits of information at a time.

Victor Cullen Chapel

ESF developed 200 Sound-Page units. Each unit contained self-diagnosis, audio instruction with worksheet activities, and Skills Lab activities.
The seven different subject areas included:

Victor Cullen Vocational School