‘Love the children first, then teach them’: Saint Theodora winners bring out the best of students in classroom of life and faith

Five teachers—Providence Sister Maureen Fallon, Mary Pat O’Connor, Patrice Payne, Amy Weigel and Laura Williams—from across the archdiocese were recently recognized as winners of the Saint Theodora Excellence in Education Award. Patrice Payne, above, a resource teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Indianapolis, says she strives for those moments with students that lead to “the spark that leaps in their eyes.” (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

Patrice Payne calls them “Eureka” moments, times when a student suddenly realizes his or her worth.

As a teacher who works with students with learning challenges, Payne shared three of those special “Eureka” moments from her 24 years in the classroom:

• “After being complimented on how quickly he could learn vocabulary words, a student said, ‘No one has ever told me before that my brain was fascinating. People just usually think I’m a bother.’ ”
• “After learning he was dyslexic, a student said with awe, ‘I just thought I was stupid. I didn’t know I was that smart.’ ”
• “Before difficult tests, students and I pray. Once after seeing the test grade, a student beamed and said, ‘Prayer works!’ ”

Those “Eureka” moments reflect Payne’s approach as a teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Indianapolis.

“I want my students to experience success,” she says. “I believe that success breeds success. No matter if it is reading, writing or math, I make sure that my students have a sense of their own accomplishments, gifts and potential. I often point out to them how far they have come in the last month, quarter or year. The spark that leaps in their eyes is priceless.”

It is no wonder that Payne is one of the five teachers from across the archdiocese who were honored on Feb. 16 as a 2009-10 Saint Theodora Excellence in Education Award winner by the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education.

Each of the winners was asked by The Criterion to share a moment that defines them as teachers. Besides Payne, here are the other winners and their answers.

‘Love the children first’

When she begins to list her most rewarding teaching experiences, Amy Weigel starts with a moment that didn’t happen in school. Yet the moment still reflects the approach that guides her as a teacher, an approach based upon this quotation from St. Theodora Guérin, the founder of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and the first saint from Indiana: “Love the children first, then teach them.”

“Several years ago, I was at a local festival,” recalls Weigel, who teaches fourth grade at St. Louis School in Batesville. “I ran into a former student and spent some time catching up. After covering all of the traditional questions, the former student told me that she always loved my class, which made me feel great. She then said something that made a huge impact on me. She told me why she loved fourth grade.

“She said it wasn’t what I taught her during her eight hours of sitting in my class, but the fact that I wanted to know if she had won her soccer game over the weekend or if she had birthday cake for her sister’s birthday last night. I have always tried to get to know my students on a personal level, but this former student taught me the significant impact it had.

“My classroom is a safe place to learn, but I believe children will be more productive learners if they are in an environment where they know someone cares about them. Every day, I make a special effort to talk to every child even if it is a simple, basic comment such as, ‘I like your haircut’ or ‘Did you win your soccer game?’

“It defines who I am as a teacher.”

Teaching lessons in compassion

Laura Williams has always stressed the lessons of compassion and empathy to her religion students, but that emphasis wasn’t making an impact on one student.

“He was not open to anyone,” says Williams, now in her ninth year as a teacher at St. Barnabas School in Indianapolis.

So she didn’t know what to expect from the boy when she took her class to Rise Learning Center, a school for children with mental and physical handicaps in Marion County.

“During the trip to Rise, I saw my student allow a handicapped child to repeatedly touch his face as he fed the child,” Williams recalls. “In that small moment, I saw my student light up. His smile and his total acceptance of the handicapped student reflected his total understanding of this child’s grace. At that moment, I knew that the lessons I had taught in my classroom were realized in my student.”

The moment meant even more to Williams because her oldest son has a handicap. She talks about him often to her students—one of the ways she lets them know about her family and her life.

“My main focus in my approach in teaching my students is to let them know I am a real person,” Williams says. “I experience both struggles and triumphs in my life, and I know that God is with me through the highs and lows of my daily life. I want them to realize the greatness of the Lord in their lives.”

The classroom of the world

For science teacher Mary Pat O’Connor, the defining moments with her students often come in the unusual places that she takes them.

She has taken them for overnight stays at the Indianapolis Zoo, and on rafting trips along the White River.

She and her students have also visited a nuclear power plant in Michigan and a waste-water treatment plant in Noblesville.

She has also led them on a five-day trip for an environmental rally in Washington, D.C., and at the University of Maryland.

“I definitely do not believe that all learning takes place in the classroom,” says O’Connor, who teaches biology, ecology, anatomy and physiology at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis.

While her goal is to have her students interact with the world, her main focus as a teacher is to create a partnership in learning with them.

“I really feel like my classes are a cooperative effort,” says O’Connor, who has been teaching for 14 years. “It is my responsibility to teach, but it is my students’ responsibility to learn. My ecology class exemplifies this because the students pick the topic for their year’s study. They have the main voice in what projects we choose, and then I direct the learning.”

Following in the footsteps of her hero

Inspiration in teaching comes in two major ways for Providence Sister Maureen Fallon.

The first way is captured in a picture of her hero—St. Theodora Guérin—that hangs in her classroom at Providence Cristo Rey High School in Indianapolis.

“She was so dedicated to providing an excellent education, and she was such a great math teacher,” says Sister Maureen, who is in her 25th year of teaching math and science. “It is such an honor to be following her example.”

Her second source of inspiration comes from her students at the private Catholic high school. She knows that many of them face challenges in their daily lives.

“Probably what defines me as a teacher might be the extra lengths I am willing to go to in order to establish confidence, competence and a sense of Christian community within my classroom,” she says. “My students know I will go the extra mile for them to help them understand and prepare for the future.”

The future of her students always guides her approach to teaching.

“As a teacher, I try to be consistent, compassionate and prepared. I have the privilege of helping to lay the foundation for future scientists, doctors and other successful professionals.” †