Teaching in a Catholic school is ‘my special calling,’ Golden Apple award winner says
For Rachele Plá, a longtime educator at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, one of the most important lessons she teaches is “helping students learn the true meaning of their vocation in life.”
“I want to help them (students) learn that their dignity and their worth come just from being themselves,” she said. “I want them to live their faith.”
Plá is St. Mary of the Assumption’s middle school religion teacher, school librarian and computer/technology teacher. She previously taught pre-kindergarten and physical education there.
Ashley Lewis, principal of the school, said that as a religion teacher “Rachele strengthens (students’) faith by answering the questions that come up and gives them a Catholic lens to look through.”