Each year, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Office of Catholic schools offers an opportunity for its teachers to be recognized for their consistent efforts, touching the hearts, souls, and minds of students. One elementary/middle school teacher from the academy and one secondary teacher may be nominated. Congratulations to this year Archdiocese of Detroit Excellence in Teaching award recipients from Everest: Catherine Terbrack and Steve Taylor! Award recipients were honored at Comerica Park on May 19.
“Catherine has been at Everest for 18 years, she currently teaches preschool. It doesn’t take more than a few moments to in Catherine’s peaceful classroom to know the gift she is to her students and the school community. If you arrived to school early enough, you would have seen Catherine at optional morning Mass before starting her work day. If you follow her down the hallway with her class, you would witness a chapel visit, in which she shares her own personal faith in a beautiful and natural way with her three-year-old students. Everything Catherine does in the classroom with her students is intentionally designed to help form them into the individuals God is calling them to be.
You may also find Catherine in the classroom on the weekend or late in the evening, planning and preparing imaginative and creative spaces for her young “friends” to learn, grow, and discover. In late evening hours, you would find her volunteering for concessions or admissions at her high school daughter’s sports games or helping tie dye shirts at the middle school girls’ lock-in.
Catherine has also been instrumental in a focus group of faculty and staff striving to respond to our current culture’s emphasis on diversity and equality through the lens of the marks of the Church: one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Her insights into how to improve our school culture for our students are invaluable. It is evident that her own personal faith drives her witness to her classroom students and our entire community.”
“Steve is a highly-talented band teacher whose love for music and performing is infectious and has led to a similar love for music and the arts among his students. Steve’s commitment to his students, their learning, and their success have enabled him to grow accomplished middle and high school bands at Everest where many competing opportunities for students to learn and explore their interests exist among a relatively small student population. Mr. Taylor ensures that students who have an interest in the band can participate, often when their interest is in a non-traditional band instrument or if they are playing at a beginner level. He will adapt music for popular scores to fit his students, creating opportunity for his class to learn and perform songs that might normally require a much larger band with a more diverse range of instruments. A talented local artist himself, Mr. Taylor’s love for teaching and for developing the talent of his students enable him to be successful in attracting students to his growing program.”
