Volunteer finds faith in teaching

     By Leanne Mieszala
     View staff writer
      Suzanne Hanford has a genuine love of angels.
      Some may even consider Hanford a bit angelic herself because of her dedication and commitment to the religious education program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church where she teaches fourth and sixth grade students weekly.
      Hanford's start in religious education began 11 years ago, when she helped teach a first grade class while living in New York.
      "I was afraid to take a class of kids on my own," she said. "I didn't know if I could do it or not so I decided to start off by helping."
      After the first grade teacher developed pneumonia about two months into the school year, Hanford was told she had to take over the class and she began teaching as a substitute.
      Hanford vividly recalled an incident that occurred during that year that could have had disastrous results on any future teaching plans.
      "The window of our classroom happened to overlook a cemetery and a small church, and the kids used to ask me about the cemetery a lot," she said. "I would tell the children that people who had died were buried there, and they in turn wanted to know how people got to heaven. I'd say, `What do you think?' and they would respond, `I think God puts them on a jet airplane and away they go.' "
      Without realizing what she was getting herself into, Hanford decided to plan a field trip with her class to the burial grounds in order to satisfy their curiosity and to present the cemetery in a positive manner to the children.
      What Hanford failed to realize was the particular section of the cemetery they were looking at contained the graves of babies and children.
      "All of a sudden I was reading markers that said, `Here lies my little shining star,' and at that moment I realized that I had taken these kids on a tour of graves of little babies and children," Hanford said. "I was mortified. What bothered me the most was the fact that when the kids' parents asked them what they did in class that day, their response was going to be, `We looked at the graves of little babies and children.' "
      Hanford presumed the worst and thought her teaching days were numbered, but she was wrong.
      "Nothing was ever said to me about the incident, and after their visit, the kids were no longer curious about the cemetery," she said. "I think the whole thing bothered me more than it actually bothered them."
      The following year, Hanford was given a first grade class of her own to teach.
      Today, Hanford is in her 11th year of catechism instruction, and four of those years have been spent at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
      The program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton accommodates 1,200 children from kindergarden through tenth grade and has been in existence since the church's inception in 1992.
      In order to be able to handle such a large number of students, the program runs on a two track system according to the public schools' schedules.
      "This works better for us in trying to be able to accommodate everyone," said Sondra Hoffman, director of religious education for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. "With people moving in at such a constant rate, we had to come up with a way to be able to handle all of them."
      Unlike New York, where lessons were taught in a classroom, volunteer catechists at this local church instruct children from their homes until a building can be constructed to meet the needs of the growing parish.
      Hanford believes home teaching has both its advantages and disadvantages.
      "Depending upon the personality of the child, I believe a lot of children seem to be more comfortable in a home environment especially when it comes to communicating their feelings," she said.
      On the other hand, Hanford said teaching in a religious education center can be advantageous because it contains more of a school setting, and children generally tend to behave better in such an environment.
      Hoffman believes having a building will make it much easier for her to be in constant contact with the teachers, something she views as a real disadvantage for her now.
      Hanford tells her students, "When you walk in my door, you walk into my heart and there you stay."
      While she views all her students as gifts from God, Hanford said the "special" children she's been given the opportunity to teach are the ones who have really made an impression on her.
      One of the fourth grade students in her class is a young girl stricken with Down's syndrome. The child came to Hanford after being refused entry into her parish's religious education program because of her condition.
      Hanford insisted on having the student because she didn't want her to be denied the opportunity to learn about her creator.
      "She is doing beautifully," Hanford said. "When she responds to a question, she does so in a very deep and spiritual manner, the way I would like the other students to understand it."
      Hanford sets home center guidelines she feels help create an environment conducive to teaching religious education in her home.
      The children are instructed to sit on a quilt on the floor rather than being scattered around the room.
      "It's our square, and it's their space," Hanford explained. "The children know to take their shoes off when they come through the door, set their books down and get comfortable."
      In addition to setting up the children's area, Hanford also sets herself up mentally before each lesson.
      "I go over the day's lesson plan, close my eyes and think about what I am going to teach that day. ...A lot of kids may have experienced a problem in school that day and even if it doesn't have anything to do with the day's lesson but was something we learned in a prior class or will learn in a future lesson, I will try and incorporate it into the religion lesson," said Hanford, adding that it's important to be a little flexible when teaching.
      In addition to her involvement with the religious education program, Hanford is also a eucharistic minister and coordinator of the altar server ministry. She handles scheduling for the baptismal ministry and was recently chosen as one of the new training wedding coordinators.
      When it comes to teaching, though, Hanford said she gives it 110 percent, and then some.
      "If I can't do that and I can't teach it with all my heart and soul, I won't do it,'' she said. "Up until that time I will not quit. It's too important. These kids need their faith, and they need their religion. ...The way I see it is these children are my future, and I'm holding the fate of my future in my hands when I teach them."
      Perhaps it's her rigid discipline along with her strong teaching devotion that makes Hanford such a successful and sought-after teacher.
      "I believe the kids get out of a class what you put into it," she said. "If you have a teacher who puts very little into it, those children are going to walk out their door empty. I don't think my students have ever walked out empty. At least I hope not."