Lessons in Learning - Hemmer
By Rachel Mergen
For the past 36 years, Lori Hemmer has been teaching elementary students at Prairie Catholic School, including first graders presently and, in the past, second and third grade students. The school has been a part of her life long before those 36 years though, as she attended St. John’s Catholic School as a child, which eventually became a part of Prairie Catholic.
She recollected some of her fondest memories from her education at the school, “My favorite teacher was Sister Angeline. I remember her as being very kind. You just knew she cared about you. I remember always hanging by her on the playground. Back then the nuns wore full habits. My friends and I were very curious about what Sister Angeline’s hair looked like under her habit. She always told us she had purple and pink feathers for hair. We were always hoping to catch a glance.”
During Hemmer’s youth, she enjoyed working with children and baby-sat often. She knew then that she wanted to have a big family, which did occur as she is now the proud mother of five, and that she wished to find a career that allowed her to spend her days surrounded by children.
To continue her education, she attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to earn a degree in education, which was then followed by a year of graduate studies.
She returned to Prairie du Chien to wed her husband and start her family. She substitute taught for her first year back in the area, before being offered a teaching position at St. John’s Catholic School.
Hemmer mentioned, “I welcomed the opportunity to teach the catholic faith, in addition to the academic subjects to my students.”
“Every day is an adventure, especially with first graders, as we come together to practice our faith, learn to work together, share our uniqueness and what we know with each other,” she said as she described her days in the educational field. “As each year comes to a close, I find it hard to say good-bye to my students. We have become like a family during the year. Working in a smaller school has given me the opportunity to really connect to the students and their families. It’s a great feeling to know all the students in the building by name. In addition, the parent involvement and support of what I do in my classroom makes teaching at Prairie Catholic all that more rewarding.”
Hemmer noted how her favorite part of teaching is being able to share faith back and forth with the students. This mutual sharing is highly gratifying for her.
“I like to give my students the opportunity to write and draw about how they follow God, what pray is, what do they pray or talk to God about and what do they do to be like God,” she said. “It’s amazing what those little minds have to share about God. The ability to talk about God throughout the day in all subject areas just adds a new dimension to what we are learning.”
She enjoys having a wide arrange of novels available in her classroom to share with her students. She finds delight in reading to her students.
Hemmer’s favorite part of her career is having the chance to shape the minds of her students and to learn from the children.
Not enough time in the day limits her ability to teach and do everything she wish she could with her students.
Hemmer hopes that all teachers truly love what they do, because otherwise she stated the job may become too demanding. She recognizes that her support system is her coworkers. She has learned that she must be open to new ideas and that “it’s a learning process for both you and your students.”
She plans to keep teaching until her love for her job begins to fade. Once she retires, she plans to volunteer at the school, spend more time with her loved ones, travel and relax with a pile of books to keep her entertained.
