Lincoln teacher to receive the St. Catherine of Alexandria award for work in special education/underserved communities
By Deacon Matthew Hecker, Ph.D.
for the Register
Kaye Kreikemeier, from North American Martyrs School in Lincoln, is the 2024 St. Catherine of Alexandria Award Winner: Special Education/ Underserved Communities Educator of the Year.
Kaye Kreikemeier was born in Iowa City, but her family moved to Lincoln when she was 3, and have lived in Lincoln ever since. Kreikemeier said she always enjoyed school.
“When I was in elementary school, I was the kid who was sad it was summer, because I loved learning, and being around my friends and my teachers,” she said. “I would save up my weekly allowance so I could walk to the dime store and buy workbooks so I could do ‘schoolwork’ during the summer.
“I want my students to love school as much as I do,” she said.
Getting to share that love for learning in a Catholic school was a journey years in the making. Kreikemeier’s grandfather was a pastor in a Lutheran church (Missouri Synod), and she attended Trinity Lutheran School and graduated from Southeast High School. She then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she met her husband, Chuck.
“He was the baby of 11 children and was from a strong Catholic family in West Point,” she said. When the couple married, they attended church services at both North American Martyrs Catholic Church and Trinity Lutheran.
When they decided to start a family, “I began attending RCIA classes and decided that’s what I wanted my faith, and family, to grow in,” Kaye said. “So I joined the Catholic Church.”
She said she also believes Chuck’s mom had a hand in her conversion, “as she told me every time I saw her, ‘I am praying for you so that you will join the Catholic Church.’ My Confirmation saint was chosen in her honor, Saint Dorothy.”
Kreikemeier never intended to be a special educator. She graduated with a double major in psychology and elementary education.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to work with children,” she said, “and I chose the double major because I really wanted to be a school counselor.”
After graduation, she married and started teaching with Lincoln Public Schools.
“Soon after, we started our family and I just never went back to complete my master’s degree,” she said. “I was a first-grade teacher for a few years with LPS, which I really loved and had a wonderful experience there, but I left to stay home with my children for four years because we felt it was important to stay home with them at the younger age.”
The Kreikemeiers’ children are Alek, 28; Dayne, 24; and Brea, 22.
When her youngest started kindergarten at North American Martyrs, a third-grade teaching position opened up. She applied, and got the job, teaching the third grade at Martyrs for 10 years.
“Our principal (then Sr. Janelle Buettner) wanted to start a special education program,” Kreikemeier recalled, “as there was an increasing desire to help our students who had unique needs and abilities.”
The school started a resource program, and Kreikemeier went back to graduate school to take special education classes and summer training with LPS staff.
“I needed to learn how to do the various reading and math intervention programs, and how to best support the students at our school,” she explained. This is her ninth year as the K-8 resource teacher for Martyrs.
“A lot of the students I work with are coming to me because the work is truly hard for them,” Kreikemeier said. “I can see it in their faces, how hard they have to work, and how badly they want to learn. I want them to know that I am there for them and will remind them of everything they can do, and how they are a great gift from God. I want my room to be a place where we can work through the problems when things get tough, and I can cheer them on when they want to give up, and we can share a high five and a smile when they accomplish a task that has been hard for them to do.”
Kreikemeier continued, “The position I have now, I just love it so much. I have the opportunity to work with many of the same students year after year, and really get to know them and their families, their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses. I get to help develop the whole person. I’m not only teaching them math or reading skills, I’m also teaching them how to love one another as God loves us, how to be kind to each other, how to treat others with love and respect, and how to regulate their emotions. It’s very fulfilling.”
She said as a child in Sunday School, she saw a picture of Jesus holding out his arms with children all around, saying, ‘Let the children come to me.’
“That is one of my most favorite sayings,” Kreikemeier said. “I want my students to come to me for help and support, laughter and tears, to know that I am a safe person where they can be themselves and I will accept them just the way they are. I want to be an advocate for my students and do all I can to help give them the education they deserve and give them the skills necessary to grow and learn. When they are back working in my room, I want them to feel as loved in my classroom as I love having them there!”
In 1 John 4:16 we read: “We have come to know and believe in the love God has for us. God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God.” That’s the love Kreikemeier desires to share with her students. But she knows she doesn’t do it alone. Kreikemeier is quick to praise her fellow teachers.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child,” she said. “I can’t do my job if I don’t have a strong support system of teachers and administrators that have the same expectations and desires for our students. I’m very thankful for all of them.”
Kreikemeier emphasized the joy she receives teaching in a Catholic school.
“You can’t beat a Catholic education, being able to freely celebrate your faith every day and attend Mass at the place you work,” she said. “I love that I get to come to work and do this every day… not only for the students, but I feel an important part of this job is working with the parents, too. We assist these parents in helping raise their children and work together to help them learn and grow in their faith. I feel so blessed that God chose me to do this every day of my life!”
Kreikemeier 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. See www.goodshepherdscholarship.com for more details.
