By Sallie Bachar
Catholic Herald correspondent
Whelan educates herself by teaching children
MERRILL -- "When working with kids, you learn more from them than from the book," said Georgianna Whelan, a recipient of the 2007 Gloria Lang Award for Outstanding Support in Ministry. Whelan was honored at the 45th annual fall conference in Rice Lake on Oct. 11.
Whelan, who is a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Gilman, has been a catechist in the parish for the past 17 years. She started teaching when her own children were in school.
"You are scared to death the first time," she said, "but I told myself, 'I can do this.'" Once she started, however, she began to develop ideas and plans for the next year and the following. "You just keep going," she said. "I have always enjoyed it."
Whelan is originally from southern Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a minor in art. Her husband's job moved them to Gilman, although she was no stranger to the area. Her parents owned a cottage near Perkinstown, where she spent many summers as a child.
After teaching second grade for one year in the Gilman public school, she was asked to be the art instructor for all the elementary grades throughout the district. This required traveling between four schools every day. Art is a subject she particularly enjoys, however, and she continued in this position for several years until her first child was born and then decided to stay home.
Although raising her children was more important than teaching, she still missed it. "I started teaching catechism because I could do it and still be home with the children," she said.
"I have had some really, really good kids in my classes," she added. "They are all good kids. There is good in every one of them but you just have to look for their special interest."
Whelan adapts her lesson plans to the students. Some classes have been more receptive to reading and discussing the Bible. Others need hands-on projects, and what works for one class does not necessarily work for another. She recalls great discussions on heaven and hell that occurred on the spur of the moment. "Some of the best lessons are not always the ones you plan," she added.
This year Whelan teaches approximately 15 young children from pre-K to first grade on Sunday mornings, and on Wednesdays, she teaches a class of fifth grade boys. "We are trying a different approach to the classes," she said. "We just completed a service project of raking leaves for a church member. The kids need to do things that make them feel good about what they are doing."
Sr. Marianna Ableidinger, FSPA, director of religious education at Ss. Peter and Paul, nominated Whelan for the award. "She is very creative," Ableidinger said. "Her lessons are so well-planned. She knows exactly what she wants to do and her creative ideas come through."
Whelan and her husband, Jim, have four grown children and six grandchildren. Through the years she has been involved in the parish's women's group, the rosary society and extracurricular activities at the public school. Besides teaching catechism, frequent visits with her grandchildren keep her busy, but she still finds time to be an instructor of the "safe and sacred" presentations given to the diocesan teachers, catechists and other lay volunteers that work with children in the diocese. "It's great to be able to do this," she said.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2007