Tanya Dallmeyer receives Christian Teacher of the Year Award
Has been teaching second grade at St. Peter School in Jefferson City for 27 years
One way Tanya Dallmeyer stays connected to Christ is by helping children encounter him and his mercy in the Sacraments.
“I remember my own First Reconciliation and First Communion, and I get to relive it every year with my students,” said Ms. Dallmeyer, a second grade teacher at St. Peter School in Jefferson City.
“It’s very, very exciting — probably the biggest honor I could ever have,” she said.
A close second is the award she received last month in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Dallmeyer and 11 other educators from throughout the United States were presented the Christian Teacher of the Year Award from the Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation.
The foundation promotes quality, Christ-centered K-12 education to help families and the culture flourish.
Gayle Trachsel, principal of St. Peter School, nominated Ms. Dallmeyer for the honor.
“Tanya Dallmeyer embodies excellence in herself, which transpires into the children that she serves,” Mrs. Trachsel wrote.
Ms. Dallmeyer is an active member of the school’s sunshine committee, “where she sprinkles kindness, love and faith-filled prayers to our staff and community throughout the year,” Mrs. Trachsel stated in the nomination letter.
This includes delivering prayer notes to people who are experiencing hardship or grief, as well as to those who are celebrating.
“Such a simple gesture lets our staff know Jesus’s love,” Mrs. Trachsel stated.
The principal also highlighted Ms. Dallmeyer’s propensity for kindness to people in need.
“She goes out of her way to help people who need it the most,” Mrs. Trachsel wrote. “I have seen her deliver breakfast to homeless people on our campus benches. She has been known to give rides to the grocery store for the sick and elderly.”
Whenever a student comes to school in need of something, Ms. Dallmeyer makes sure he or she gets it, “whether it’s a coat, gloves or a snack.”
She and her students make care bags for people who are homeless or who are forgotten in hospitals and nursing homes.
“She does these things because she knows that God calls all of us to be his hands and feet in the world,” Mrs. Trachsel stated.
Ms. Dallmeyer said she learned such kindness by watching her family.
“My parents and my grandparents both played a big role in helping people and seeing the face of Jesus in others,” she recalled.
“When you see somebody who’s in need, the right thing to do is to help them if you’re capable,” she stated.
Ms. Dallmeyer’s father was fond of saying: “If you think you’ve got it bad, someone else has got it worse.”
“So, you need to figure out how you’re going to work through it by helping someone else,” he would tell her.
Extended family
Ms. Dallmeyer grew up in Eldon and enjoyed going to daily Mass with her Dad before school.
“I was so excited when I was actually able to receive Holy Communion,” she said. “I remember my pastor saying, ‘You finally get to do it, Tanya!’”
She attended Helias Catholic High School and later studied education at Lincoln University, both in Jefferson City
She was fascinated by her Catholic faith but knew she had a lot of unanswered questions.
“I hadn’t really planned on being a Catholic school teacher,” she acknowledged.
But she received several job interviews at Catholic schools, including one with Barbara Swanson, now deceased, who was associate diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools.
“I found her to be the sweetest woman,” Ms. Dallmeyer recalled. “After that, I said, ‘I want to be a part of this!’”
Her first year teaching, Ms. Dallmeyer car-pooled 36 miles each way from Jefferson City to St. Andrew School in Tipton.
The children, families and pastor at St. Andrew melted her heart.
“They were absolutely amazing,” she said. “That was my introduction into Catholic education as far as being part of the family.”
The next year, while preparing to start a family, she sought employment closer to home.
She got hired to teach second grade at St. Peter, “and I’ve been here ever since,” she said.
All three of her children went to St. Peter and graduated.
“The people I work with are all an extension of my family,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without all the people here. They have been the most amazing support system I could ever ask for.”
One step at a time
The Herzog Foundation award included a $2,500 honorarium for Ms. Dallmeyer, and the same for St. Peter School.
The foundation also flew Ms. Dallmeyer and Mrs. Trachsel to the Nation’s Capital for the award ceremony.
Ms. Dallmeyer acknowledged feeling a little out of place.
“The other recipients of the award were talking about theology classes and how they share their faith with middle and high school students,” she noted.
“And I’m saying, ‘I teach 7- and 8-year-olds,’” she said. “‘We don’t get that deep.’”
She and her students are accustomed to learning by watching and doing.
After praying for their Guardian Angels to protect them throughout the day, they start their morning routine with a fun activity from one of the “STEM boxes.”
STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.”
“The students and their creativity are ignited with domino blocks, interlocking building discs, magnetic building sticks, magnetic blocks and more,” she said.
This creative interlude also gives her an opportunity to move around the room, see what the students are creating and listen to their conversations with peers.
“It allows them to ease into their day and helps me see where they are emotionally,” she noted.
Ms. Dallmeyer also gets them involved in charitable activities that help them feel connected to God and humanity. Her favorite times of the year are when her students make their first Confession and receive First Holy Communion.
“They’re so excited!” she said of when they emerge from the confessional. “It’s like they have shiny little halos. My co-teachers and I like to joke about how long it’s going to stay on them.”
A few months later, they’re thrilled to join in the procession to receive Holy Communion.
“I keep reminding them: It’s not just their First Communion, it’s the first of thousands of Communions!” she said.
She’s quick to remind them that they’re receiving the fullness of Jesus Christ: body, soul, spirit and divinity.
“I tell them that every week, every day they receive Holy Communion, it brings them closer to God and gives them a moment to be one with him.”
She knows it’s hard for adults, let alone 7- and 8-year-olds, to wrap their minds around all of this.
“They still have a lot of questions,” she noted. “I just try to reassure them that the more they participate at Mass, the more their faith and understanding will grow.”
God willing
Ms. Dallmeyer and her family have made sacrifices for her to teach in a Catholic school.
Sometimes along the way, she questioned whether she was doing the right thing.
“But everything seems work out,” she said.
She goes out of her way to identify and help children who learn differently from their peers.
“I struggled through school and faced many academic challenges,” she stated. “When I got into college, it was suggested that I may have a learning disability. After going through the testing process myself, I try to be more aware of students that may struggle.”
She now holds a master’s degree from Lincoln University.
She told the reporter about a student she once had who started the year hating school, but at the end of the year, he wrote her a note of appreciation.
“It stayed on my refrigerator all summer, to remind me of my ‘why,’” she said.
