Teachers 1st Grace helps educators create welcoming classroom environment
As Diana Roettger led her second graders in a reading exercise on cheetahs, students wobbled on stools, wiggled on donut-shaped seats and sat comfortably on cushions in chairs and on the floor.
“Can you read it from the paper here?” Roettger asked her students as they scanned a glossary of words that accompanied the reading. “What does carnivore mean? Animals that eat other animals — okay, super!”
Roettger recently retired and began a new career teaching at St. Theodore School in Flint Hill this year. Like most teachers, she had to build her classroom from scratch. That generally includes anything from supplies such as pencils, notepads and other classroom teaching aids to decor, including curtains, rugs and storage cubbies.
Roettger learned from a co-worker about Teachers 1st Grace, an organization that was started last year to grant Catholic school teachers with supplies to help outfit their classrooms. Roettger created an Amazon wish list, filled out an application, and once approved, packages began arriving at her home, including the flexible seating she now uses in her space, along with a document camera, fidget toys, bookshelves and organization items.
Dan Vonder Haar launched the nonprofit last year after watching his daughter Riley start her Catholic teaching career several years ago. Like many new teachers, she had dreams of how she wanted to create a warm, welcoming environment where she could bring the Gospel message to her students. But on a new teacher’s salary, she had a limited budget.
Teachers often receive a modest stipend from the school’s PTO to go toward their classroom expenses, but it doesn’t stretch very far, said Dan Vonder Haar, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes in University City. The rugs, curtains, books, teaching aids religious items and supplies — all of it quickly adds up.
“That was the beginning of this ministry,” he said. “It could be new Catholic teachers graduating with a master’s degree or (teachers) with kids or people who have completely raised their kids. It doesn’t matter where they are at in this education journey. They all have this vision of what they want their classroom to look like to bring the Gospel to children. So we said, why can’t we help them create that space?”
This school year, Teachers 1st Grace helped 15 Catholic school teachers with $12,000 in grants. Grantees fill out an application by answering a few questions, including why they want to teach in a Catholic school. Teachers also are asked what they need, with most sharing a link to an Amazon wish list. Vonder Haar said the funds are used to purchase and ship the items directly to teachers.
“It’s like Christmas morning for the teachers,” he said. Some items cannot be reasonably shipped, so “we have done deliveries — whatever it takes to get it to them.”
Riley Vonder Haar is in her fifth year as a Catholic school teacher and currently teaches first grade at Incarnate Word School in Chesterfield. She’s always hoped to become a school teacher, having dreamed since she was a little girl about what she wanted her classroom to look like.
Her space has a farmhouse style, featuring decor with sunflowers and neutral, calming colors. Vonder Haar also created a prayer corner, featuring a table, prayer aids, rosaries, stuffed dolls of the saints, Mary and Jesus, and a chalice and paten as reminders of the Eucharist.
“The classroom is a second home for us Monday through Friday,” she said. “I’m probably in the classroom more than my own house. I wanted it to feel like home for me and my kids.”
It’s important to create a comfortable environment so that students can open their minds and hearts, she said, adding that even the youngest students have big questions: What happens after we die? Who are the saints? How do I become a saint? Why is there evil in this world?
“They’re asking these questions when they are comfortable and know that will be responded to in a way that respects them as a person,” she said. “The greatest joy I have is seeing all the growth my kids make from the beginning to end of the year and watching their faith grow as they learn and become more curious about it. It makes my heart feel very happy knowing I am doing something to aid in that journey.”
To learn more about Teachers 1st Grace, visit teachers1stgrace.com.
