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Educators celebrate 20, 25 years in area Catholic schools

By Denver Catholic Register

With this roundup, the Denver Catholic Register concludes its series of profiles honoring educators marking milestone anniversaries of service in Catholic schools during the 2011-2012 academic year.

25 years

JoAnn Ehrlich
Christ the King, Denver

JoAnn Ehrlich’s heart and soul is in Denver’s Christ the King School. She has also taught at St. Mary School in Littleton and at St. Thomas More School in Centennial. She’s taught computer to all students and has taught fourth and fifth grade. She is a graduate of Western State College in Gunnison.  At Christ the King, Ehrlich said, the faculty is dedicated to making students lifelong learners and followers of Christ.

“I want my students to not only master their academics, but to become an example of Jesus to all they meet,” she said. Teaching in Catholics schools is just a part of who she is, she said

Cecilia Marie Gartland
Christ the King, Denver

In teaching, Cecilia Gartland wants every child to realize their God-given talents and share them with others. “As a Catholic teacher and mentor, it is my desire to help my students reach their full potential and to help them to learn respect for all people,” said Gartland, a fourth-grade teacher at Christ the King School in Denver.

She began teaching science for kindergarten through fifth-grade students before instructing fourth grade for 15 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Regis University. Gartland said she wants to continue to pass her faith onto students and inspire future generations to become Catholic educators.

Alexis Grose
All Souls, Englewood

Teaching really isn’t a career but a vocation, said Alexis Grose. A New Jersey native, Grose’s educational philosophy is to set students’ hearts on fire with love for Jesus. She’s taught for 25 years in the Denver Archdiocese after earning her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Duquesne University in Pennsylvania.

During her 49 years in education, she served as an assistant principal at a school in Israel and has studied at a graduate level at eight different universities and colleges. Most of all, she loves children, Grose said.

Rebecca Peel
Christ the King, Denver

For kindergarten teacher Rebecca Peel, every child is special and every child can learn. She’s taught for 47 years—25 years of which she’s worked fulltime instructing students at Christ the King School in Denver.

Before teaching, Peel earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Illinois State University. She taught in Green Bay, Wis., where she launched the first Head Start Program for low-income children in the area, and later taught in Fox Park, Wyo. Since working at Christ the King, Peel started the first full-day kindergarten program.

Kathy Perkins
All Souls, Englewood

Kathy Perkins has achieved 25 years of teaching in the Denver Archdiocese, during which time she’s strived to be a positive influence on every child. Currently, she teaches second grade at All Souls School in Englewood. Part of her philosophy is to help students excel in all areas—academically, personally and spiritually.

“The highlight of each year is being a part of the children’s preparation for receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and holy Eucharist,” she said. She gradated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education.

Bernard ‘Skip’ Zickmund
Mullen High School, Denver

Counseling is Bernard Zickmund’s forte. For 16 years, Zickmund—also known as “Skip”—has served as the director of counseling at Mullen High School after working as an admissions counselor and transfer coordinator at Regis University. He serves as the private school representative for the Colorado Council, which recognized him as a counselor of the month in 2011.

In his spare time, Zickmund makes custom wood furniture. Zickmund holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master of legal studies degree in psychology, both from Regis University, and a master’s degree in education from the University of Phoenix.

20 years

Kathy Anderson
Annunciation, Denver

The children Kathy Anderson has taught during her 20-year career in the Denver Archdiocese have been a gift from God, she said. She’s taught at Catholic schools her entire career, including Annunciation, Presentation of Our Lady and Christ the King schools, where each child has made a difference in her life.

She currently works as a first-grade teacher at Annunciation, where she’s taught for 15 years.  Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Colorado and earned an endorsement in elementary education in 1987.

Roger Barthel
Mullen High School, Denver

Roger Barthel had been employed at Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace for 11 years when the track coach, during a meet, asked if he could teach business at Mullen High School. “I sent my resume, the next week had an interview and was hired,” he said. That was 1992.

In addition to teaching, Barthel serves as assistant dean of students, and has coached soccer, football and track. Barthel, whose four sons are alumni, hopes he is “able to be at Mullen for another 20 years.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree in applied communication from the University of Denver.

Rosemary Converse
Sts. Peter and Paul, Wheat Ridge

Rosemary Converse, a Denver native, joined the faculty at Sts. Peter and Paul School in 1992. She currently teaches fourth grade.

Prior to serving at Sts. Peter and Paul, she taught in schools in Alabama, Virginia, Colorado Springs and Jefferson County. A product of 12 years of Catholic school, Converse believes in the mission of Catholic education “with a commitment to excellence, rigorous academic achievement and solid moral values all based on our faith.”

She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Denver.

Sister Loretta Gerk, O.S.F.
Notre Dame, Denver

Franciscan Sister Loretta Gerk, a native of Iliff, Colo., has spent the majority of her ministry in teaching, youth ministry and adult ministry—including working with the homeless and serving as a police chaplain. A teacher in public and Catholic schools in Colorado and Minnesota, she currently teaches physical education for kindergarten through eighth-graders at Notre Dame School.

“What I like best about Notre Dame School are the great families, staff and close community,” she said. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and business education from the University Northern Colorado and a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Seattle University.

Margaret Howard
St. John the Baptist, Longmont

Music teacher Margaret “Maggie” Howard has served in the Archdiocese of Denver since 1987. She teaches fifth- through eighth-graders, and previously taught all grades kindergarten through eighth. She also taught music at Holy Family High School in 1999-2000.

In addition to teaching, she is the long-time parish music and liturgy director. “I feel blessed to be able to share my faith and strengthen the faith of our students through music,” she said. Her children attended St John’s, and her grandchildren were baptized there by their grandfather, Deacon Bob Howard.

Marc Lenzini
Bishop Machebeuf High School, Denver

In all that he does, Marc Lenzini strives to form the hearts, minds and souls of the students he teaches. “It is our primary duty, I think, as teachers in a Catholic school to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to our students in a loving, compelling and passionate way, and to invite each of them into an intimate encounter with Christ and the Church,” he said.

For 20 years Lenzini has taught in the Denver Archdiocese. He serves as the theology department chair at Bishop Machebeuf High School in Denver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Louis University and a master’s degree in English from the University of Illinois.

Mary Beth Maes
Nativity of Our Lord, Broomfield

Mary Beth Maes began her service in the Denver Archdiocese in 1978 teaching first grade at St. Mary Magdelene School in Denver. When it closed the following year, she moved to Holy Trinity in Westminster, where she taught first and third grades until 1984. She joined the faculty at Nativity of Our Lord in Broomfield from 1985-1989, returning in 2001 through today.

As a first-grade teacher, her students have taught her to open her mind and heart to joy and innocence: “Because of this, I’ll never forget how to smile and laugh with my kids and strive to be the best educator I can be,” she said.

Maes holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

Suzanne Meissen
Most Precious Blood, Denver

Suzanne “Sue” Meissen is a middle school history teacher at Most Precious Blood School, where she has served for 17 years. Prior to that, she was a long-term substitute at Notre Dame School and taught at Annunciation School for two years, both in Denver. She has taught reading, language arts, math and social studies at the middle school level.

Meissen enjoys the feeling of community at MPB: “It doesn’t matter whether I’m at school, church or a social function. One of my colleagues is a former student; I think that shows how close this community is.”

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State College.

Mary Ricotta
Sts. Peter and Paul, Wheat Ridge

Mary Ricotta teaches seventh- and eighth-grade religion and social studies at Sts. Peter and Paul School. Her love for Catholic education started early when attending St. Athanasius School in her native Evanston, Ill. She also attended Our Lady of the Wayside School, Sacred Heart of Mary High School and Regis University. She taught for five years in the public school system before taking a leave to raise her three children.

When she returned to Catholic education, she said it was like returning home. “I can pray, talk about God and actually celebrate Christmas.” She loves teaching at Sts. Peter and Paul: “We are a family that embraces God, children and family.”

Susan Schneider
St. John the Baptist, Longmont

Susan Schneider is currently a first-grade teacher at St. John the Baptist School, where she has taught first and second grades for 20 years. Prior to that, she taught first through sixth grades at Catholic schools in Wisconsin and Alaska.

“As Catholic educators we have an awesome responsibility to our students and their parents, to teach as Jesus did,” she said, with “unlimited patience and love.” She feels fortunate to work with colleagues “who believe in and practice this truth.” Schneider holds a bachelor’s degree in choral music education and elementary education from Northland College, Ashland, Wis.