This post was contributed by Abbie Greer, Principal at The Academy of Saint Matthias the Apostle.
Teacher Appreciation Week is an odd entity. As Catholic educators, our choice to work in a Catholic school seems like it would fit some typical job search and find model, but it’s truly something more than that. As an educator in a Catholic school, you have answered a calling and you are fulfilling a vocation. I am thankful every day, even on the hard days, that I not only get to fulfill my vocation, but I get to do so in cooperation and collaboration with a team of gifted, vocationally-driven educators. We don’t do it for the fame, the glory, the money: what we do every day is for our students and for the life and faith journeys they are on.
Something so special about Saint Matthias is how organic innovation has taken hold. When we think about trends and new-age education, the assumption is that ideas come from the youth. At Saint Matthias, our reading program has transformed thanks to the leadership of seasoned veterans, never falling prey to the easy route of “we’ve always done it that way” and “it’s the way I was taught.” Currently students in 4th to 8th grade follow a choice reading model due to the modeling and leadership of Mrs. O’Hare, Mrs. Sykes and Mrs. Kelly. This change has impacted test scores, but the reason for the innovation had to do with creating a culture of readers. Students are not only encouraged, but expected to read, recommend books, and share about their readings.
Mrs. O’Hare has been inspiring students at Saint Matthias for decades. She is the librarian for the 4th to 8th grades and teaching Spanish to 5th to 8th graders. She is a leader the attempted balance we all face in Catholic schools of holding tight to our tradition while always pushing forward with innovation. Mrs. O’Hare does more than run the library, knowing the needs and likes of her readers and working to support and push their limits as they explore through books. The library must be current, with new books arriving consistently. Mrs. Sykes is open about her transformations as an educator, and takes pride in the changes she has made to her approaches and her execution of instruction. It’s typical to walk into her classroom and see students engrossed in literature of all types. Utilizing this model means she has had to move the “control” from the teacher to the students. Currently, two of her students are on par to complete 100 books this school year. Ms. Kelly is the type of learner who watches, takes in, and then executes. She is the art teacher and the librarian for grades PreK-3rd. She lays the foundation for the choice reading model and continues the joy of reading by conferencing with students in 4th and 5th grades. This year, the Archdiocese of Washington will award Julie the Golden Apple Award.
In a particular way, Teacher Appreciation Week means we pause and reflect. My hope is that the teaching team at Saint Matthias knows every day, not just this week, that they are loved and respected. The choice reading model implementation is just one way that teachers at Saint Matthias are pushing instruction forward, as they, daily, lead, learn and proclaim.
