By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
After more than 30 years of teaching in Catholic schools, Teresa J. Roberts, who goes by Terry, shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. For her, each day brings the opportunity to touch a student’s life for the better.
That dedication and passion led to Roberts being named the 2018 Archdiocese of Louisville’s Father Joseph McGee Outstanding Catholic Educator.
Roberts, an English teacher at Presentation Academy, will receive the award at the Salute to Catholic School Alumni dinner — hosted by the Catholic Education Foundation — on March 14.
As in many families, Roberts said her parents were her first teachers. Neither were trained in a formal way, she said, but both encouraged and promoted her education in her formative years.
“My mom corrected my grammar all the time. She also thought it was important to speak correctly. It was something passed down from her mom,” Roberts said.
Roberts attended St. Thomas More School and graduated from Presentation in 1982. She earned her undergraduate degree in English from Spalding University, a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on reading from the University of Louisville and rank I certification in library science at Spalding University.
Not only does Roberts enjoy the day-to-day interaction with her students in the classroom, she said she makes an effort to support and get involved with them outside of school.
“I want to let them know we care about them and support them in their endeavors. I want them to have a great experience at Pres. I had a great experience
here at Pres. It’s something that stays with them for the rest of their lives,” she said.
Roberts has taught at Presentation for a dozen years and currently teaches freshman English. She also serves as the school’s librarian and moderates the student council.
Some of her most treasured moments as an educator, she said, occur when a student “has a light bulb come on.”
“It’s still satisfying seeing a light bulb come on and to see kids make the connection between the literature we are reading and our lives. … Or when a kid has been struggling and they get an A on a paper and just beam,” she said.
Prior to teaching at Presentation, Roberts taught at St. Rita School from 1986 to 2000, at Holy Trinity School from 2000 to 2005 and for one year at St. Nicholas Academy. Roberts holds her years at St. Rita close to her heart and said she worked with an incredible group of educators, which helped her grow as a young teacher.
Many of the things Roberts said she hopes she instills in her students can’t be found in a book.
“I want them to care for each other, to be accepting of each other and to embrace differences. I want them to like themselves, to love themselves and to appreciate themselves for who they are,” she said.
Roberts said receiving the McGee award is a “wonderful honor that I’m not sure I deserve.”
“There are so many great teachers I taught with, who taught me and I wonder how I rank amongst them,” she said.
One person who is positive Roberts deserves the accolade is Jamie Beach, her sister and fellow Presentation teacher.
“Terry models for her students daily through her quiet but powerful demeanor the value of a Catholic education. She gently nudges her students toward their fullest potential, academically, emotionally, spiritually,” she said.
And, Beach should know. She received the Father Joseph McGee award in 2011. She sees her sister as a servant of God.
Five years ago, Roberts donated a kidney to a soldier injured in Afghanistan, whom she heard about in a news report. At the time, she told The Record she donated her kidney because she “felt it was something I needed to do.”
Beach said that though her gift of a kidney was an “extraordinary act of selflessness,” Roberts demonstrates consistently “what a servant of God is through her mission as a Catholic Christian educator.”
“I believe that God sees Terry as a servant in whom God is well pleased. I am proud to call her ‘sister,’ ” Beach said.
Barbara Wine, principal of Presentation, said she nominated Roberts because she “possesses the passion and wisdom that is the hallmark of a gifted teacher.”
Wine added that Roberts is an “advocate for all learners and sets the bar high when it comes to academic excellence.”
Her Catholic faith is an integral part to her life and teaching, Wine said calling her the “ultimate Catholic role model.”
“She is very active in her parish and has an unwavering faith when faced with personal challenges,” she said.
The Roberts family attends St. Paul Church, where they are involved in a host of ministries. She serves as a Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sponsor. She and her husband, Ken, study with the archdiocese’s diaconate class of 2020. The couple have been married for 21 years. They have three children: Jake, 20, is a junior at Northern Kentucky University; Jill, 18, is a senior at Presentation; and, Jenna, 14, is an eighth-grader at St. Paul School.
