Math teacher's hard work adds up to Sacred Heart's top educator award

The honor was for an individual, but the recipient sees it as a tribute to commitment shared by many.

Richard Bahner, who has been teaching math at Sacred Heart School for 37 years, was named the school’s teacher of the year for 2012 at the culmination of Catholic Schools Week on Feb. 3.

“This is the only place I’ve ever worked, except for my graduate assistantship and working in the lumber yard in the old days for some supplemental income,” Bahner said.

To qualify for the honor, teachers must be employed at the school for at least six years. And once they have won the award, they are not eligible for consideration for another five years. Bahner previously was honored as teacher of the year in 1988.

After receiving the award, Bahner said he started to think about “how wonderful it is that very few people remember what we went through in the ’70s and ’80s, what we went through to keep this school open.”

Enrollment was down to about 60 students, and he said there were lots of rumors about the high school being forced to close.

“So I see this (award) as gratitude to several teachers who have been here quite a while, who weathered the storm,” he said.

Principal Mark Register said: “Sacred Heart is still here today because of teachers like Richard Bahner. ... Parents remained loyal because they knew he would be teaching their children.”

Register said that during those “lean years,” Bahner helped in any way he could, including performing maintenance tasks throughout the building and even driving a school bus.
“We are here today in large part due to people like Mr. Bahner who made those types of commitments,” Register said.

Bahner said it was Register who made a crucial difference at his first faculty meeting, when he told the staff that a positive attitude about the school and its students would be mandatory.

“That turned things around,” he said.

Bahner didn’t figure he was in the running for the award this year, so he was surprised when his name was announced.

“Everybody plays the same game,” he said. “I thought a couple of others were shoe-ins.”
And while the honor is nice, Bahner said the students’ reaction was “the best part of it. That is what I will remember.”

Register said, “The student reaction was raucous in support of our choice. ... Everyone was genuinely pleased, and happy that a worthy recipient had been recognized.”

Bahner said teaching math at the Catholic school is not that difficult because he receives lots of parental support and because so many students plan to go on to college, so they know they must meet the math requirements for entrance exams.

“Most students are motivated to do a good job,” he said. “The hard part is working for deeper understanding. You always get ‘What is going to be on the test?’ — but you want them to want more than that.”

Register addressed Bahner’s longevity at the school, noting that he could have gone somewhere else and made more money, but remained loyal to Sacred Heart.

“This is not just a job, but a vocation and a ministry,” Register said, “The nurturing and spirituality also are extremely important.”

And concerning his students, Register said: “They are bright kids, and they know Mr. Bahner. They know what he puts in to make their math education as valuable as possible.”