Lincoln teacher to receive St. Elizabeth Ann Seton award
By Deacon Matthew Hecker, Ph.D.
for the Register
Terri Schilmoeller, a music educator at St. Teresa School in Lincoln, credits the work of the Holy Spirit in her teaching.
As disciples of Christ, each of us has a particular mission. St. John Henry Newman said, “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission.”
Terri Schilmoeller admits that, as a child, her parents must have known her better than she knew herself.
“I really wanted to take ballet lessons, but mom refused,” she said. “Instead, my parents did pay for piano lessons and flute lessons. And when I was a (high school) senior, trying to decide what to do, I was very pleasantly surprised to find I could study music in college and take all music classes all day long. It became my goal to become a music education major. I auditioned for the UNL School of Music and got in.”
Raised in Lincoln, Schilmoeller attended St. Teresa Elementary School and Pius X High School. While at Pius, she met her future husband, Eric. Now, the two are the proud parents of five children: Vince, 13; June, 10; Owen, 8: Hazel, 5: and Roslyn, 3.
As often happens with faithful disciples, God worked in mysterious ways with Schilmoeller. After graduating from UNL, Schilmoeller taught in Lincoln Public Schools for four years, “which I really loved and had a great experience there.” She then stayed at home with her children for three years.
“We lived in St. Teresa Parish,” Schilmoeller said, “and the (music teacher) job here opened up, which had always been a dream job for me. But I wasn’t sure I was ready to go back to work.”
With her son starting pre-school at St. Teresa, Schilmoeller thought it would be good to be at the school he was going to, and the school their kids would attend.
She applied for and got the job. “I’m really glad I did!” she said.
At first, teaching at St. Teresa School was simply a convenient family arrangement for Schilmoeller. Then God began to reveal to her the plan He had for her life. Schilmoeller saw that Catholic schools “offered a whole other (spiritual) dimension that you can’t even touch in the public schools.”
“I find it so energizing to be in a place where not only do I love all my co-workers, but we have a shared mission that I really care about, of moving toward Heaven with my co-workers and with the families here and with the children,” she said. “And that’s so much deeper and more rich than just teaching kids for the sake of knowledge, or to be good citizens.”
In her music classroom, Schilmoeller discovered that not only was she teaching music to the children, she was preparing them to glorify God.
Schilmoeller found, “there’s nothing better than teaching kids a song we’re going to sing at Mass or we’re going to sing at Adoration, to sing for Jesus… And in the classroom, you can say, ‘when you’re singing this tomorrow, you’re going to be singing this to our King, THE King!’”
As a result, Schilmoeller said, her personal relationship with Jesus and her personal faith life have grown “exponentially.”
In addition, she enjoys working with her teaching colleagues.
“I really love all the other teachers here,” she said. “It’s great to be unified in mission and unified in faith. We’re always helping and encouraging each other, not only to be better teachers but to be holier.”
Schilmoeller added that she wasn’t going to Mass every day before teaching in a Catholic school, though she is now.
“I wasn’t praying with kids every half-hour, until now… which I think was actually the ultimate difference maker” prompting her spiritual growth, she said.
In short, Schilmoeller said teaching at a Catholic school has revealed to her, her personal mission.
“The door to the job opened at the right time, which was when I was not even ready for it and I wasn’t even looking for it,” she said.
Now that Schilmoeller has been teaching at St. Teresa School and using the gifts God gave her, she said she has been so happy that “I have absolutely no desire to leave.”
“It’s been an incredible experience for me, really enjoyable,” she said. “I’ve grown in my faith and been maybe a small part of helping other kids and adults grow in their faith.”
In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes, “Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift… And He gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
Schilmoeller is quick to credit the work of the Holy Spirit in her teaching.
“I think trying to learn to work with the Holy Spirit has perhaps contributed to successes I’ve experienced,” she said. “The Holy Spirit has guided me to set high standards for kids, both musically and behaviorally. I do demand a lot from my students.”
In doing so, Schilmoeller has the satisfaction of observing the God-given gifts of her students blossom. Working at St. Teresa School, teaching music to the children, in order that they might better know and glorify their Father, is her mission.
Schilmoeller will receive her award Oct. 13 at the third annual “Saints & Scholars” dinner to celebrate Catholic schools, educators and benefactors in the Diocese of Lincoln. All are welcome to attend. Follow www.goodshepherdscholarship.com for more details.
