Teacher crosses a bridge in life and finds a closer bond with Christ and her students
Maggie Banet is the recipient of the 2025 Saint Theodora Excellence in Education Award, the highest honor given to an educator in the archdiocese. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)
By John Shaughnessy
FLOYD COUNTY—Driving from her home in southern Indiana to her job in Kentucky, Maggie Banet had the growing feeling that she needed to make a dramatic change in her life.
For years, she had been teaching at a public school that was ranked first academically in Kentucky, a school where she loved the students, their supportive families and her caring colleagues. It was a dream job in the eyes of many, but something was missing for Banet.
As she crossed the bridge spanning the two states, a short Bible verse often jumped into her thoughts, a verse from Colossians 3:23 that she summed up in this way, “Work for the Lord and not for men.”
“I wanted to please my principal and the administration,” she recalls. “The pressure from the top down to stay at the number one spot was extremely difficult. I would repeat that verse to myself to remember that, ultimately, I need to please God first.”
Amid those thoughts, she heard from a friend—a secretary at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs School in Floyd County—that there was an opening for a teacher.
“It was literally divine providence,” says Banet, about that moment six years ago. “I feel like the Lord just picked me up out of my toughest year of teaching. He opened the door at St. Mary’s. I came to interview, and they offered me the job. I literally cried tears of joy.”
Banet had another moment of joy earlier this year when the fifth-grade teacher was chosen as the recipient of the Saint Theodora Excellence in Education Award, the highest honor given to an educator in the archdiocese. (Related: Four other educators were finalists for archdiocese’s highest honor for education)
‘We’re going to sing to the Lord because we love him’
Each teacher across the archdiocese designs their classroom in their own vision, and the atmosphere that Banet strives to create for her students is one of joy, discovery and faith.
The emphasis on faith is especially evident, from the Christian songs that sometimes serve as background music during religion and even math classes, to the various Bible verses that are printed on colorful pieces of paper and displayed prominently around the room.
“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10).
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
“I cannot think of a more boring way to start teaching, especially during religion class, than to say, ‘OK, open your book to page seven,’ ” Banet says. “When you’re talking about God and how absolutely amazing he is, I just can’t bring myself to open a textbook.
“Sometimes we’ll start with a song or end with a song and the kids’ faces just light up. ‘Hey, we’re going to sing to the Lord because we love him.’ The goal is for them to have a relationship with Jesus.”
She takes a diverse approach in helping her students reach that goal, sometimes appealing to the children’s goofy, fun-loving side and other times focusing on their thoughtful, deeper emotional side.
“She always makes religion fun,” says fifth-grader Livie Luckett with a big smile. “One time, we were learning about the followers of Jesus, and she put a duck towel on her head, and she made us follow her around like we were the followers of Jesus.”
Banet went deeper with her students during a recent religion class when she shared an excerpt on sacrifice and suffering from the book 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory by Matthew Kelly—at one point focusing on this passage, “Choose a relationship in your life that is struggling and pour into it the unmitigated love of daily sacrifice.”
She capped off the lesson by playing the song “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris about the body of Christ, a song that brought tears to some of her students.
“Before I heard these songs, I really didn’t listen to religious music,” says Will Block, another fifth-grader. “When she introduced me to these songs, it inspired me to learn more about Jesus and feel more attached to him.” (Related: What’s the hardest thing you’ve given up or done for Lent? See how you compare to a fifth-grader)
High expectations and high energy
While she’s laser-focused on helping her students move closer to Jesus, Banet continues to strive to bring out the best in them academically.
“Maggie isn’t just enthusiastic, she is also effective,” says Tracy Jansen, principal of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs School. “Her students respond to the energy she brings daily. Her students consistently score in the top 15% of ILEARN math scores [administered by the Indiana Department of Education]. After assessments are administered, she eagerly analyzes the data and fills in learning gaps, ever focused on student learning and growth.”
Her high energy approach shows in the fact that she doesn’t have a chair for herself in her classroom. And instead of a desk, she has a large, rolling cart with shelves, where she keeps her computer and phone.
“I’m always on the move,” she says. “I’m always walking around, talking or teaching or doing hand motions or checking their math work. Or we’ve moved to the big carpet in the back of the room where the kids can sit if I want to do a more intimate lesson, or the kids need to get out of their seats for a while.
“Even if I had a chair I wouldn’t sit there. I just walk around the room and put myself close to the kids that are struggling. I’m looking over their shoulder, figuring out who’s got it and who needs help.”
At 41, Banet also knows where to turn when she needs help in her various roles—as a teacher; as the wife of her husband of 13 years, Alex; as the mother of their three children, James, 9, Anna, 7, and Grace, 3.
“Some days, I feel like I’m in survival mode,” says Banet, a 2002 graduate of Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville. “Those two tasks that have been gifted to me—my job and being a mom—take every ounce of my time and energy. At the end of the day, if I feel I’ve given everything to my ministry at school and everything to my family, then I’ve given everything to the Lord, without many extra minutes to spare.”
She fills those spare extra minutes in her day with prayer.
“I have an ongoing conversation with God throughout the day. Just a quick ‘thank you.’ A quick ‘help me,’ ” she says. “And I truly feel he talks back.”
The conversation with God extends to her students
Sometimes, the conversation turns her to a Scripture verse, including one she often relies on, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
“I’ve talked with my colleagues about that one often,” she says. “I’ll come into my class, and I might feel unprepared, and I might feel inadequate. And every single time I pray that things will go smoothly, that God will put the right words in my mouth, he never fails. I cannot take any of that credit. Sometimes the Holy Spirit just takes over.”
She uses a similar approach in guiding her students to understand the importance of seeking God’s words and wisdom in their lives. She has her students memorize one Scripture verse a week.
“I tell the kids that memorizing Scripture is like memorizing math facts. You don’t need them all the time. But when you need it, it’s not going to be helpful if they’re not in your memory bank. It’s really gotten the kids excited about the Bible. When we go to Mass on Fridays, they’ll hear a song and there will be a verse in it that we’ve memorized, and they’ll look at me with their eyes wide open, like, ‘Oh! There’s our verse!’
“They’re starting to learn what is in the Scriptures and why it’s important to them. I hope I give them a taste of how God can use Scripture in your life. You pull that verse from your memory bank when you’re feeling frightened or when you’re feeling discouraged or when you’re feeling joyful. If they know how to make that connection, I hope they will do that more as they get older.”
Fifth-grader Millie Wheatley says that learning the Scripture verses has already had an impact on her and her classmates.
“At the beginning of the year, I never read the Bible,” Millie says. “But ever since Mrs. Banet started doing this, it’s helped me learn a lot more about God and how powerful he is. And it’s made me read the Bible more and get me closer to God.”
‘It’s such a gift’
Six years have passed since Banet daily crossed the bridge from her home in southern Indiana to her job in Kentucky. Six years have passed since she crossed a figurative bridge in her life—from an emphasis on preparing students to succeed on test scores to an emphasis on helping them develop their faith, their relationship with God and their focus on reaching heaven.
Receiving the Saint Theodora award thrills her, yet not nearly as much as what she gets to do as a Catholic school educator.
“The Bible says to go and make disciples of all nations [Mt 28:19]. If I’m going to share my faith like the Lord tells me to, what better way to do it—‘Here’s a group of children: mold them, teach them,’ ” she says.
“I walk in every day, and I’ve been given 20 10-year-olds who look at me with anticipation of, ‘What are we going to do next?’ They hang onto your every word. They’re able to get my jokes and make connections. I absolutely love my job. I have to pinch myself some days that I get to be here. And it’s such a gift to be given the opportunity to share my faith in such an easy, enjoyable manner.”
That gift ties into another Scripture verse that has become crucial to her. It’s a verse she’s had her students memorize, all in her hope that they will rely upon it throughout their lives: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Prv 3:5)
“I don’t know how people make it through life without faith,” she says. “It is just the driving force behind everything I do. In the end, all that matters is my faith and did I share it. When I have my ups and downs in life, I always remember that Jesus is the constant.
“He’s the one doing the work. He’s the one changing hearts. I’m just the tool he’s chosen to use. And for that, I’m forever grateful.” †
