By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
Leisa Schulz, superintendent of Catholic schools, told educators Nov. 7 that their faithful witness to the Catholic faith influences the lives of students and their parents.
The Archdiocese of Louisville Office of Catholic Schools recognized 202 teachers at a teacher appreciation luncheon held at The Olmsted.
The annual luncheon honors educators who have taught for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years in Catholic schools in the archdiocese. These teachers serve 19,032 students in 49 Catholic schools located in seven counties of the archdiocese.
Schulz told those gathered for the meal and recognition ceremony that “our ministry calls us to enlist witnesses for Jesus Christ.”
“We are privileged to share our faith with our students and to serve as role models for them,” she said.
Teachers share their stories of faith, of how “we have encountered Jesus in our lives,” Schulz said.
“We go where God has called us to go — into the hearts and minds of children and young people in our Catholic schools,” she said.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz thanked the teachers for their ministry and said they are an essential part of the family of the local church.
“You shape the minds and hearts and lives of young people as well as their families,” he said.
Referring to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, the archbishop thanked the teachers for their “willingness to be informed.” All teachers in Catholic schools here are trained to recognize and report abuse.
He noted that the November episodes of the archbishop’s monthly TV show “Conversations with Archbishop Kurtz” are devoted to the topic of sexual abuse and feature Martin Siegel, victim assistance coordinator, and John Laun, chair of the Sexual Abuse Review Board.
“I will continue to try to communicate with everybody. We are a family that needs to face the truth in love,” he said.
Returning to the topic of education, Archbishop Kurtz noted that a recent study published by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) discussed how young people view the relationship between faith and science.
The study showed that among young people who leave the church, at least one-third of leave because they believe they have to make a choice between following their faith and following science, he said.
The archbishop said he meets regularly with scientists who teach at universities in Louisville. For their next meeting, the group plans to invite two high school teachers, one a theology teacher and the other a science teacher.
It’s his hope, the archbishop said, “to make a case in truth of why it really makes sense to be for science and for faith.”
Following are teachers who were honored at the luncheon.
50 years
Sister of Mercy Mary Corinne Burt,
Mercy Academy
Joyce Koch, Assumption High School
Joe Kroh, St. Xavier High School
45 years
Pam Raidt, St. Agnes School
40 years
Dan Amlung, St. Xavier
Anne Bahr, St. Martha School
Anne Bainbridge, St. Athanasius School
Cindi Baughman, Assumption
Susan Beck, St. Mary Academy
Joe Bergamini, St. Xavier
Margaret Bowen, St. Joseph School
Dave Bradshaw, St. Xavier
Kathryn Cornett, Our Lady of Lourdes School
Alan Donhoff, St. Xavier
Gina Eberenz, St. Francis of Assisi School
Pat Garr, St. Margaret Mary School
Rick Knoop, St. Xavier
Patricia Perry, Our Lady of Lourdes
Mary Margaret Ralph, Assumption
Karen White, St. Xavier
35 years
Anita Brockman, St. Catherine Academy
John Ellington, Trinity High School
Theresa McClinton, St. Paul School
Mary Ann Naser, St. Xavier
Joseph Norton, Holy Angels Academy
Doris Swenson, Holy Spirit School
Kathleen Willenbrink, St. Leonard School
30 years
Susan Adams, St. Gabriel School
Janice Barry, St. Leonard
Carol Carter, St. Stephen Martyr School
Terri Glotzbach, Holy Angels
Angela Langenkamp, St. Gabriel
Connie McDowell, Bethlehem High School
Jackie Metry, Assumptipon
Joy Moeller, Assumption
Donna Moir, Sacred Heart Academy
Amy Nall, Sacred Heart
Theresa Owens, St. Gabriel
Michelle Pullem, Holy Trinity School
Tony Scheler, St. Xavier
JoEllen Smith, St. Gregory School
Diane Walsh, St. Edward School
Carol Webster, St. Agnes
Dick Wunderlin, Trinity
25 years
Stephanie Blanford, St. Andrew
Mary Ann Bowman, St. Xavier
Betsy Dragoo, St. Agnes
Mary Flynn, St. Gabriel
Cassie Frantz, Ascension
Patricia Harrison, Bethlehem
Jana King, Sacred Heart Academy
Lisa Mattmiller, St. Gabriel
Becky McGuffin, St. James, Elizabethtown
Vince Muchow, St. Albert
Sister Anna O’Connor, Presentation
Mary Riney, St. James, Elizabethtown
Marina Traub, Holy Angels
Rosanna Vessels, St. Xavier
Janine Volk, Mercy
Todd Walsh, St. Xavier
20 years
Diane Boone, St. Bernard
Tina Chaput, St. Margaret Mary
Debra Corbett, Assumption
Dawn Deweese, Assumption
Suzanne Geiger, St. Martha
Susan Hurst, St. Joseph, Bardstown
Jeremy Jackson, Trinity
Stacy Johnson, Assumption
Kevin Johnson, Holy Trinity
Susan Key, St. Edward
Adam Klein, Trinity
Wayne Kraus, Trinity
Donna Laemmle, St. Margaret Mary
Ellen Martin, St. Albert
Meri Lou Mattingly, Assumption
Alison Milby, St. Agnes
Jody Miller, Holy Spirit
Rebecca Prechtel, Holy Trinity
Mike Reynolds, St. Xavier
Stephanie Schrader, St. Raphael
Paulette Stinnett, St. Gabriel
Chad Waggoner, Trinity
Connie Whiteman, St. Joseph, Bardstown
Alan Wilson, Trinity
Laura Wolz, Our Lady of Lourdes
Catherine Wright, St. Andrew
J0hn Youngblood, Trinity
15 years
Tiffany Bennett, Notre Dame Academy
Susan Bientz, St. Raphael
Tara Brentzel, St. Mary Academy
Kimberly Caruso, Sacred Heart Academy
Jennifer DeLozier, St. Aloysius, Pewee Valley
Caroline Donnelly, St. Agnes
Joanne Ellery, St. Dominic, Springfield
Dawn Fouts, St. Margaret Mary
Marcia Franklin, Sacred Heart Academy
Allison French, St. Albert
Cathy Giangarra, St. Patrick
Anna Maria Goss, St. Michael
Marie Griffin, Sacred Heart Academy
Kathleen Harren, Holy Spirit
Deborah Hudson, Sacred Heart Academy
Lisa Kelly, St. Mary Academy
Rick Mattingly, St. Xavier
Maggie Osborne, Sacred Heart Model School
Bob Scheler, St. Xavier
Beth Shoemaker, Assumption
Karen Sirianno, St. Patrick
Greg Smith, Assumption
Susan Snyder, Sacred Heart Model School
Tommie Stewart, Sacred Heart Academy
Sheila Stocksdale, DeSales High School
Annette Thornsberry, St. Martha
Kitty Wagner, St. Albert
Maura Walker, St. Dominc, Springfield
Mary Rose Weiter, Holy Cross High School
Carrie Wentzel, Sacred Heart Academy
Tiffany Whelan, St. Michael
Karen Widener, St. Michael
Lisa Wieland, Assumption
Adam Zoeller, St. Xavier
10 years
Mark Amick, Trinity
Kristina Becker, Assumption
Ned Berghausen, Mercy
Mandy Bifone, Holy Angels
Cherie Bragg, St. Paul
Nicolas Crider, St. Xavier
Ashley Davenport, Holy Trinity
Amanda Dodson, St. Gabriel
Mary Ann Downs, Bethlehem
Elizabeth Furlong, Holy Spirit
Stuart Hamilton, Bethlehem
Tom Hamilton, Bethlehem
Neil Hulsewede, St. Rita
Craig Kannapel, Trinity
Kevin Klein, St. Xavier
Lara Krill, St. Gabriel
Terri Kurtz, Assumption
Kara Lewis, St. Joseph, Bardstown
Carolyn Marcum, Sacred Heart Model School
Holly McGuire, Trinity
Andy Meirose, St. Xavier
Jennifer Meirose, St. Xavier
Karen Meredith, St. Joseph, Bardstown
Mark Metzger, St. Xavier
Leah Montgomery, Holy Spirit
Tom Moss, Bethlehem
Jennifer Mueller, St. Martha
Angela Muller, Holy Trinity
Anastasia Quirk, DeSales High School
Natalie Quisenberry, St. Rita
Kari Sims, Mercy
Matthew Sommer, DeSales High School
Amanda Stewart, St. Mary Academy
Laurie Swink, St. James, Elizabethtown
Letty Tapia, St. Xavier
Wesley Thomas, Trinity
Jill Vittitow, St. Joseph, Bardstown
Morgan Wissing, Our Lady of Lourdes
5 years
Frances Adams-Ashbrook, St. Edward
Dana Bale, St. Martha
Charlene Bechely, St. Patrick
Dorothy Boone, St. Ann, Howardtown
Amanda Bradley, St. Joseph
Deica Brown, St. Mary Academy
Vicki Bryan, Our Lady of Lourdes
Teresa Cecil, St. Ann, Howardtown
Brittany Coomer, St. Patrick
Carlos Cuenca, Trinity
Brian Dubil, Holy Angels
Heather Dumstorff, Our Lady of Lourdes
Kirk Eckstein, Our Lady of Lourdes
Kelli Eckstein, St. Mary Academy
Mary Gates, St. Albert
Keith Graham, Bethlehem
Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp, Sacred Heart Academy
Patrick Heintz, Trinity
Kevin Hulsman, Holy Spirit
Rhoda Jacoby, Immaculata Classical Academy
Sarah Kreme, Bethlehem
Shelley Lampe, Immaculata
Brandon Lewis, Mercy
Michael McCormick, St. Xavier
Jared Meyer, Immaculata
Chloe Mitchell, Sacred Heart Academy
Lacy Moore, St. Margaret Mary
Eileen Moore, St. Xavier
Claire Mulloy, Sacred Heart Academy
Bobby Nichols, St. Xavier
Juliana Norton, Holy Angels
Lisa Radcliff, St. Agnes
Jill Reed, St. Dominic, Springfield
Dawn Renner, Immaculata
Terry Rogan, St. Gregory, Samuels
John Rudolph, DeSales High School
Tammy Sallee, St. Dominic, Springfield
Barbara Schweickart, Presentation
Scott Spinetto, Assumption
Emily Thompson, Holy Trinity
Joseph Tronzo, St. Xavier
Martha West, St. James, Elizabethtown
Grace Yann, St. Mary Academy
