2024 Catholic Schools Week Supplement
As she leads by example, a teacher hopes her students choose Jesus in their hearts
Kristen Christenberry has a close bond with her students as she strives to help them have a personal relationship with Jesus. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)
By John Shaughnessy
As soon as she walks into the school building, Kristen Christenberry focuses on her main goal for her life and her primary hope for her students.
“I want my words and actions to reflect my love for God,” says Christenberry, who has taught in Catholic schools for 17 years. “I never want anyone to question whether or not I am a Christian. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, ‘As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (Jn 13:34-35).
“This is something that I promote in my classroom every single year, as I invite students to have their own relationship with Jesus.”
As a teacher at St. Monica School in Indianapolis, Christenberry has also always strived to create close relationships with her students, even going the extra mile during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when instruction went completely virtual.
“Kristen went to the homes of high-need students to ensure they had face-to-face check-in and instruction,” notes Eric Schommer, St. Monica’s principal. “Our children in her care know they are loved by God.”
That quality shines through in a story from her days as a first-grade teacher, when one of her students was struggling with sight words and reading in the classroom—even though the child’s mother said he was able to do both at home.
“I decided to meet with the student at his home, with mom’s permission,” says Christenberry, a finalist for last year’s Saint Theodora Excellence in Education Award, the highest honor that the archdiocese gives to an educator.
“I suspected that he wasn’t able to focus in the classroom long enough to work with me. At his home, we would read and work on sight words. Mom was right. Her child was reading. Seeing how he was able to have success in his kitchen helped me know what I needed to change to work with him at school.”
‘It’s a whole different level of awesome’
In nominating Christenberry for the award, one parent noted, “She meets every child where they are physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, and pushes them in a loving manner to achieve and become more.”
That level of attentive caring also shows in the way that Christenberry, a mother of two, looks out for children in a school where students come from diverse backgrounds of race, economics and ethnicity, and where a number of students have special needs.
“I have had children in my class with disabilities, including ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder], emotional disorders, autism and Down syndrome,” she says. “With each new year, I learn more about these children and understand better how to teach them successfully.”
That personal connection extends to watching out for students who come from families who struggle economically. If she notices a child doesn’t have a warm winter coat and hat, she’ll work to find them for the child.
She also pays close attention to her students’ families at Christmas, ever since one of her students returned from Christmas break and told her and his classmates that what he got for Christmas was a carpet for his bedroom.
“I talked to the mom, and she said, ‘We had no money, we needed the carpet.’ After that, I started reaching out to families to find out if they needed any assistance for gifts for their kids.”
After years of teaching first grade, Christenberry requested to teach sixth-grade students for this school year.
“I could not tell you which grade I love better. I love them both equally for different reasons,” she says. “You really have to work hard with sixth-graders because they don’t buy in as easily as a first-grader does. When the sixth-graders finally allow you to get to them and they have that a-ha moment or you see they are finally making the connections, it’s a whole different level of awesome.”
She especially strives for these break-through moments as she integrates the Catholic faith into every part of the school day.
“Ultimately, it comes down to preparing our students to know and love God so that they can go out into the world and be the face of God,” she says. “My goal as a Catholic school teacher is for each and every one of my students to leave my classroom knowing how much God loves them and how to build a relationship with him. I hope that someday they choose Jesus Christ in their heart.
“The earlier we start them having a love for God, the hope is that each year it flourishes a little more. I try every day to lead by example.” †
