St. Rose HS teacher receives N.J. Nonpublic Teacher of the Year award
October 18, 2024 at 11:28 a.m.
For Linda Groh, theology teacher at St. Rose High School, Belmar, helping young people reach their potential has been her devotion for 17 years.
The parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Farmingdale, was recently recognized as a co-winner of New Jersey’s 2024 Nonpublic Teacher of the Year. Groh was honored Oct. 8 in the diocesan Chancery, as well as during the annual Catholic Schools Mass Oct. 10 at St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold.
“Ms. Groh’s commitment to her students and Catholic education makes her a shining example of what it means to educate the whole child,” said Bonnie Milecki, assistant superintendent of Catholic schools, at the Catholic Schools Mass. “She has shown unwavering dedication to nurturing the minds, hearts and spirits of her students. Catholic schools strive to cultivate not only academic excellence but also the spiritual, emotional and moral growth of each student. Ms. Groh embodies this mission.”
Robert Dougherty, principal of St. Rose, noted in a prepared statement read by Milecki, “Ms. Groh’s theology classes are our most critical subject, because they advance our Catholic mission and identity to our students. She ensures that students don’t just learn about faith – they live it – creating a space where they explore Catholic tradition and grow in their relationship with God. This integration of faith and education is what makes our schools unique.”
Marla James, a high school journalism, history, government and politics, and English teacher at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, also was a recipient of the award. https://njcatholic.org/news/2024-nonpublic-teachers-of-the-year-announced
Leading with Faith
Groh said her fourth-grade teacher, “Mrs. Piser from St. Joseph School, Toms River, really inspired me to be a teacher.”
“She was just this amazing woman who … made learning an adventure and really [moved] me to be a teacher like that, where every day could take you on a new journey.”
Groh believes her teaching call came through the grace of listening to what God wanted her to do.
“I know I have impacted my students,” she said, “and I hope by witnessing to my faith, I can impact their faith, which will help them to always rely on God.”
Groh attended St. Joseph School and nearby Monsignor Donovan (now Donovan Catholic) High School. She continued her Catholic education at Georgian Court University, Lakewood, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology, history and secondary education.
“Choosing to teach in a Catholic school was easy, because my faith has always been a part of who I was,” she explained, noting that she serves as Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion in her home parish and grew up involved in several parish ministries. “My parents made the sacrifices for my sisters and I, sending the seven of us through Catholic school, and I made that choice for my own children.”
In 2006 she began teaching social studies and language arts for fifth and sixth grades at St. Veronica School, Howell. Two years later, she began teaching seventh- and eighth-grade social studies, language arts and religion, as well as taking over as social studies department chair through 2019 and director of the school’s Living Stations of the Cross.
“I wanted to teach somewhere that I could be myself every day and talk about how, through God, we are given so many blessings that people take for granted,” Groh said. “I wanted to open my students' eyes to recognizing those God moments in their lives [and] tell them that Jesus loves them.”
Moderating a variety of clubs and activities, including student council, social justice club, academic team and choir, she also provided technical support for St. Veronica’s school assemblies and programs. She served on the Middle States Advisory Committee and implemented the Diocese’s technology curriculum for the school as technology coordinator.
Bishop O'Connell congratulates Linda Groh who was honored as a co-winner of New Jersey’s 2024 Nonpublic Teacher of the Year. Staff photo from video In 2019 Groh took a job in an inpatient mental health facility for adolescents as an in-house teacher, helping the teens keep up with regular school assignments when they were unable to attend classes.“It gave me a feel for working with older students again,” she said, “and seeing them struggle and how I could help them, opened my eyes to working with high school students again.”
Beginning in 2021 at St. Rose High School as a theology teacher, Groh taught the entire freshman class and one class of sophomores and became the freshman class advisor.
“I also started the Women of Worth Club to empower young women to see the presence of God in their lives, to recognize who they were becoming and to pursue their every goal,” she said.
The next year she became sophomore class advisor and created the Lighthouse Mental Health Club “to meet the rising needs of our students who were under a great deal of stress,” she explained. “All students are welcome to come and join the club and engage in our activities.”
Mental Health Advancements
One of the achievements of which Groh is most proud is her 2022 implementation of the first Hope Squad in New Jersey – a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program, in which students are trained to recognize the students who might be at risk in their community.
“More than 70% of students who have contemplated suicide have told a friend. They don't tell adults,” she said. “Hope Squad empowers our students to see the warning signs in their peers and to reach out to them or the advisors for help.”
The program, funded by a grant from The CulleyStrong Foundation, now has 40 students and three advisors. The group hosts an annual “Hope Week” that includes a Mental Health Fair, which invites companies who offer resources to help students deal with rising stressors.
“We have a multitude of activities to allow our students to just be kids and laugh and de-stress together,” Groh said. “Sometimes, students just need someone to listen to them or to know they are not alone. When they need more help, we have protocols in place to help them.”
“Faith and mental health are interconnected,” said Dougherty, her principal. “Her work has fostered a caring community where students feel seen and supported, and as a licensed Hope Squad advisor she has brought hope and healing to St. Rose, reminding all that mental health is both a psychological and spiritual concern.”
Its Own Reward
Students have always been at the heart of Groh’s most rewarding teaching experiences – especially when she can connect with them and they return after graduation.
“There is no greater reward than that,” she said. “I have so many former students who I regularly keep in touch with who are married and having kids now.”
She remembers her first class of fifth graders as “an incredible group of individuals who can still recall things I said and did in class, and how I made them feel. It humbles me because I loved every single minute of teaching them.
“I love when [students] stop in my doorway and ask me to pray for them before their driving tests, or their math tests, or chem tests, or when their grandparent is having a surgery, or before a game, or after they've lost a pet,” she said. “Those are all moments I cherish, and I am so grateful for.”
For more information on St. Rose’s Hope Squad, visit www.hopesquad.com and https://www.theculleystrongfoundation.com.
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For Linda Groh, theology teacher at St. Rose High School, Belmar, helping young people reach their potential has been her devotion for 17 years.
The parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Farmingdale, was recently recognized as a co-winner of New Jersey’s 2024 Nonpublic Teacher of the Year. Groh was honored Oct. 8 in the diocesan Chancery, as well as during the annual Catholic Schools Mass Oct. 10 at St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold.
“Ms. Groh’s commitment to her students and Catholic education makes her a shining example of what it means to educate the whole child,” said Bonnie Milecki, assistant superintendent of Catholic schools, at the Catholic Schools Mass. “She has shown unwavering dedication to nurturing the minds, hearts and spirits of her students. Catholic schools strive to cultivate not only academic excellence but also the spiritual, emotional and moral growth of each student. Ms. Groh embodies this mission.”
Robert Dougherty, principal of St. Rose, noted in a prepared statement read by Milecki, “Ms. Groh’s theology classes are our most critical subject, because they advance our Catholic mission and identity to our students. She ensures that students don’t just learn about faith – they live it – creating a space where they explore Catholic tradition and grow in their relationship with God. This integration of faith and education is what makes our schools unique.”
Marla James, a high school journalism, history, government and politics, and English teacher at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, also was a recipient of the award. https://njcatholic.org/news/2024-nonpublic-teachers-of-the-year-announced
Leading with Faith
Groh said her fourth-grade teacher, “Mrs. Piser from St. Joseph School, Toms River, really inspired me to be a teacher.”
“She was just this amazing woman who … made learning an adventure and really [moved] me to be a teacher like that, where every day could take you on a new journey.”
Groh believes her teaching call came through the grace of listening to what God wanted her to do.
“I know I have impacted my students,” she said, “and I hope by witnessing to my faith, I can impact their faith, which will help them to always rely on God.”
Groh attended St. Joseph School and nearby Monsignor Donovan (now Donovan Catholic) High School. She continued her Catholic education at Georgian Court University, Lakewood, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology, history and secondary education.
“Choosing to teach in a Catholic school was easy, because my faith has always been a part of who I was,” she explained, noting that she serves as Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion in her home parish and grew up involved in several parish ministries. “My parents made the sacrifices for my sisters and I, sending the seven of us through Catholic school, and I made that choice for my own children.”
In 2006 she began teaching social studies and language arts for fifth and sixth grades at St. Veronica School, Howell. Two years later, she began teaching seventh- and eighth-grade social studies, language arts and religion, as well as taking over as social studies department chair through 2019 and director of the school’s Living Stations of the Cross.
“I wanted to teach somewhere that I could be myself every day and talk about how, through God, we are given so many blessings that people take for granted,” Groh said. “I wanted to open my students' eyes to recognizing those God moments in their lives [and] tell them that Jesus loves them.”
Moderating a variety of clubs and activities, including student council, social justice club, academic team and choir, she also provided technical support for St. Veronica’s school assemblies and programs. She served on the Middle States Advisory Committee and implemented the Diocese’s technology curriculum for the school as technology coordinator.
Bishop O'Connell congratulates Linda Groh who was honored as a co-winner of New Jersey’s 2024 Nonpublic Teacher of the Year. Staff photo from video In 2019 Groh took a job in an inpatient mental health facility for adolescents as an in-house teacher, helping the teens keep up with regular school assignments when they were unable to attend classes.“It gave me a feel for working with older students again,” she said, “and seeing them struggle and how I could help them, opened my eyes to working with high school students again.”
Beginning in 2021 at St. Rose High School as a theology teacher, Groh taught the entire freshman class and one class of sophomores and became the freshman class advisor.
“I also started the Women of Worth Club to empower young women to see the presence of God in their lives, to recognize who they were becoming and to pursue their every goal,” she said.
The next year she became sophomore class advisor and created the Lighthouse Mental Health Club “to meet the rising needs of our students who were under a great deal of stress,” she explained. “All students are welcome to come and join the club and engage in our activities.”
Mental Health Advancements
One of the achievements of which Groh is most proud is her 2022 implementation of the first Hope Squad in New Jersey – a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program, in which students are trained to recognize the students who might be at risk in their community.
“More than 70% of students who have contemplated suicide have told a friend. They don't tell adults,” she said. “Hope Squad empowers our students to see the warning signs in their peers and to reach out to them or the advisors for help.”
The program, funded by a grant from The CulleyStrong Foundation, now has 40 students and three advisors. The group hosts an annual “Hope Week” that includes a Mental Health Fair, which invites companies who offer resources to help students deal with rising stressors.
“We have a multitude of activities to allow our students to just be kids and laugh and de-stress together,” Groh said. “Sometimes, students just need someone to listen to them or to know they are not alone. When they need more help, we have protocols in place to help them.”
“Faith and mental health are interconnected,” said Dougherty, her principal. “Her work has fostered a caring community where students feel seen and supported, and as a licensed Hope Squad advisor she has brought hope and healing to St. Rose, reminding all that mental health is both a psychological and spiritual concern.”
Its Own Reward
Students have always been at the heart of Groh’s most rewarding teaching experiences – especially when she can connect with them and they return after graduation.
“There is no greater reward than that,” she said. “I have so many former students who I regularly keep in touch with who are married and having kids now.”
She remembers her first class of fifth graders as “an incredible group of individuals who can still recall things I said and did in class, and how I made them feel. It humbles me because I loved every single minute of teaching them.
“I love when [students] stop in my doorway and ask me to pray for them before their driving tests, or their math tests, or chem tests, or when their grandparent is having a surgery, or before a game, or after they've lost a pet,” she said. “Those are all moments I cherish, and I am so grateful for.”
For more information on St. Rose’s Hope Squad, visit www.hopesquad.com and https://www.theculleystrongfoundation.com.