Teachers find out they're really special

The Journal Sentinel staff

Pupils at St. Josaphat Catholic School on Tuesday got to tell their teachers what they thought of them.

They made Mrs. Alvarez cry.

They made Sister Michael Marie smile.

And they made Mr. Falk glad he had spent the last 21 years teaching math at the parish school in the shadow of the South Side's looming basilica.

At a surprise assembly in the school gymnasium, pupils presented each of the faculty's 12 teachers with a personal book of tributes from children in their classes.

Lori Alvarez, who is in her second year of teaching there, wept as she read what her seventh-graders had to say about her.

"It makes me feel so good," she said, blinking back tears and hugging the yellow covered booklet.

Angelica Morales, 13, had written: "She wants us to learn and have a fun time, too."

Sister Michael Marie Jordan beamed as she stepped forward to claim her booklet.

Joseph Glisch, 8, wrote, "She makes us laugh as we learn." Then Back to Work

But on Tuesday, the nun, who has taught at St. Josaphat's for 20 years, led her second-graders back to class where, to no one's surprise at all, she put them right to work on a test.

In the yellow brick building at 801 W. Lincoln Ave., learning comes first.

Once the other classes had left the airy gymnasium, eighth- graders took the floor for a basketball practice session. Their teacher, Jerry Falk, greeted a visitor, as he simultaneously tucked his booklet under one arm, juggled a full cup of coffee, kept an eye on the fast-moving youngsters and kicked an errant ball back into play.

All in a day's work for someone who, as Heather Neldner, 14, wrote, "knows just when to crack a great joke."

The morning's moments of applause and personal appreciation were no less sweet for being brief.

Sister Ann Marie Hudzina, the principal, told the school assembly about the genesis of the tribute: "About two months ago, our school committee heard of Channel 24's `Teachers Are Tops' program. But we couldn't pick out just one, so we nominated them all."

Every pupil brought home a sealed letter asking that parents and pupils together write for faculty members the kinds of encouraging notes teachers write on homework papers every day.

"Boy, did you do a good job!" Hudzina told the children. Not for the Money

The individual booklets were put together, she said, because members of the school committee wanted to tell the faculty, "We know you work hard, and we know you're not here for the money."

That provoked a chuckle of recognition from every adult in the room.

As Father William Callahan, pastor of St. Josaphat parish, reminded the assembly, teachers in the 145 elementary schools and 12 high schools of the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese earn about a third less than their hard-working counterparts in other schools.

"Teachers are woefully underpaid everywhere," he said. "But Catholic school teachers make a special sacrifice."

Keeping schools open is a constant struggle, Callahan said after the assembly.

"Last week's collection was $4,400," he said. "Last week's bills were $30,000, more than half school-related."

That's why St. Josaphat has called on graduates of previous years to form an alumni association to keep the school thriving.

The school has changed a great deal since association co- president Christopher Kowal graduated from the eighth grade there in 1968. All the faculty members were nuns then. The building itself was razed for a parking lot.

"I have many fond memories of that school, even though I was a bad student," he said. "I spent lots of time in the principal's office. But now that I'm older, I realize how much I owe the strict, motherly care of those nuns. Most of them have passed away. I'm sorry I cannot say thanks to them."

Instead, he has become involved with the alumni association. Recognition Helps

Academically, Hudzina is quick to point out, St. Josaphat is in no danger. The school is accredited by the Milwaukee Archdiocese and the Wisconsin Association of Nonpublic Schools. That kind of public recognition helps keep any school in business.

But Tuesday's type of recognition is what keeps teachers in the classroom.

Diane Helsper, 14, called art teacher Mary Lou Lorenz "a definite all-time favorite."

With every word, the children said more than they actually wrote down on paper.

With each message, they told their teachers: "I listened. I noticed. I paid attention."

Teachers at St. Josaphat or any other school ask no more.

Copyright 1995
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