Julie Domzalski, who is known around St. Margaret Mary School as the official school toothpuller, will be honored March 5 as this year’s Father Joseph McGee Outstanding Catholic Educator.
She will receive the award at the Catholic Education Foundation’s Salute to Catholic School Alumni dinner on March 5 at The Galt House Hotel.
Domzalski is one of five sisters, all teachers. She’s married to a teacher. And she’s been a first-grade teacher going on 34 years.
It’s safe to say, Catholic education has been at the center of her life. It began with her own education at St. Margaret Mary and continued at Sacred Heart Academy and Bellarmine University.
She shifted to the front of the classroom first at St. Edward School and then at her alma mater, St. Margaret Mary. Every year of her more than three decades in the classroom has been spent with first graders, whom she finds inspiring.
Religion is one of her two favorite classes to teach — the other is reading, she said during a recent interview.
“Reading because there’s so much to it and you see so much growth” throughout the year, she said. And religion because it’s integral to who she is as a person.
“Faith is a big part of who I am,” she said. “I’ve had nothing but Catholic education my whole life and that’s a huge part of who I am.”
Alongside her religion class, Domzalski said she presents a lesson called Community Kindness throughout the year. She asks her students’ parents to “catch their child showing religion at home, showing kindness.” That could be by helping an elderly neighbor, being nice to the server at a restaurant, or going out of their way to aid a sibling.
When parents tell her about their child’s act of kindness, she reads it aloud to the class and lets the students guess whose act it was.
“Oftentimes the rest of the class is inspired to go home and do something kind, too,” she said. “They’re six and seven years old, but sometimes they just get it. Religion is going to take them far in life. It’s not a class, it’s a way of life.”
Domzalski said her success in the classroom draws heavily on her psychology degree.
“Understanding where children are in their development and helping them learn in their own way inspired me,” she said. “Their lightbulbs go off at all different times.”
“Faith is a big part of who I am. I’ve had nothing but Catholic education my whole life and that’s a huge part of who I am.”
Julie Domzalski, St. Margaret Mary School teacher
She regards teaching as not just a job, but a calling. And she has relied heavily on the people around her, she said, noting that her husband, sisters, principals, teaching assistant, parents, son and fellow teachers have all left a lasting impression on her.
She’s married to her high school sweetheart, Mike Domzalski, who teaches theology at Trinity High School. And at one point, she and her four sisters taught at St. Margaret Mary together. Currently, three of the “Murphy girls” as they were known growing up (Domzalski’s maiden name is Murphy) teach at St. Margaret Mary. Two teach in the public school system.
“It’s good because we’re close and we help each other,” she said.
Even her great-aunt was a teacher, she said, adding that she just happened to be close friends with Father Joseph McGee, for whom the award was named.
“He exemplified what Catholic education is about,” Domzalski said of Father McGee. “I want to make him proud and honor his legacy. …I’m honored to receive this in his name.”
She’s not comfortable in the spotlight, but she said she’s “comfortable being the representative of the people who do what I do,” because “we all deserve recognition for the hard work and dedication to our calling.”
