Dear Charley:

The universe was obviously created by intelligence. Anyone who denies that is not thinking reasonably. Reason demands intelligent design. It is actually anti-intellectual and anti-scientific to deny Intelligent Design.

There is scientific evidence for intelligent design but most scientists are chastised or even fired if they wish to scientifically study the question. Science, contrary to popular opinion, tends not to be objective, but follows an "orthodoxy" that punishes any "heretic" scientist. There is a kind of "Academy" that protects scientific orthodoxy. It is always a risk for any scientist to buck the "Academy." 

For example, until the late 19th Century the prestige of a surgeon was based on how much blood and gore was on his surgical apron. This began to change when people like Joseph Lister developed practical applications of the germ theory of disease (proposed by Louis Pasteur and many others) with respect to sanitation in medical settings and aseptic surgical techniques. Those scientists proposing Germ Theory, however, were at first often held as quacks by much of the scientific community (the Academy). "Science" did not believe in germs, therefore they do not exist. In other words, the scientific community often established a bigoted orthodoxy utterly contrary to attitude science is suppose to have. I recommend the documentary by Bill Stein, Expelled No Intelligence Allowed, that shows much of this bigotry on this question of Intelligent Design.

The Intelligent Designer, of course, is God. That is why the Scientific Academy is so desperate to discredit Intelligent Design. They would prefer to act like and be bigots than to be true scientists with an open mind for scientific investigation. Afterall, the Scientific Academy has decided God does not exist, therefore He doesn't.

St. Thomas Aquinas proved the existence of God. He offered five proofs that are not just philosophical but also scientific (especially the first two right out of Newtonian physics):

1. The Argument of the Unmoved Mover 

2. The Argument of the First Cause

3. The Argument from Contingency

4. The Argument from Degree

5. The Teleological Argument

The Wikipedia article explains these five proofs well enough.

This is the information you can teach your students. I would show the Bill Stein documentary in class.

As for the Church, the Church is in favor of teaching the truth whether that be in public or private schools. But, the Church has no jurisdiction over public schools or private schools that are not Catholic.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary