Getting To Know Our First-Grade Teachers, Lori Bertram And Cheryl Sowell: “God Has Blessed Our Lives

Who wouldn’t want to work alongside a friend each day? What a blessing to be there for one another through all of life’s ups and downs! First-grade teachers Lori Bertram and Cheryl Sowell are living that dream each day, as they teach first grade together at St. Peter Catholic School. They’ve been teaching together for seven years, and Mrs. Bertram has taught at the school for 11 years.

They both know teaching is their vocation, and they feel blessed to be living out that vocation at a Catholic school. “Our vocation is teaching 6 and 7-year-olds about His love and His forgiveness,” Mrs. Bertram says. “God has blessed our lives, and it’s nice we can match that with the vocation to serve Him.”

St. Peter Catholic School isn’t just any Catholic school — it’s a very special place for both teachers.

“Teaching here is so family-oriented,” Mrs. Sowell says. “Any day I come in, somebody will greet me — anything that I ever need, someone will help me out and pick me up. That is what I love most. It’s all a family, from the faculty to my students and their parents.”

When someone at the school is struggling, both Mrs. Bertram and Mrs. Sowell love that they can bring God into the conversation — they don’t have to practice their faith in private.

“This morning the whole school was singing (religious song) ‘10,000 Reasons,’” Mrs. Bertram says. “I looked out at them, 400 students worshipping God, and I thought, ‘I get to be a part of this.’”

Mrs. Bertram and her husband have four kids, and Mrs. Sowell and her husband have three kids. With all of their children being past the first grade, the two teachers love that they get to hold on to this age for years to come.

“I love their innocence,” Mrs. Bertram says. “It’s so easy to see God in them. I just love having a relationship with them. First-graders are so quick to forgive and quick to understand differences.”

First grade is a big year for the students, and both teachers enjoy teaching reading. They love how excited the kids are to learn new words and put them together to read sentences and, eventually, paragraphs.

“Even the students notice that they come into the school year reading books that only have three or four words, then they leave reading a chapter book,” Mrs. Sowell says. “They are super proud and excited. It’s fun for us to see the growth and praise them through that.” T

he students are so full of life and joy, and that is a big joy for Mrs. Bertram and Mrs. Sowell.

“I just love the things they get so excited about, that we, as adults, don’t,” Mrs. Sowell says. “The first time it started to snow [this season], it was like they won a million dollars!”

Mrs. Bertram and Mrs. Sowell are there for one another through everything, and that brings joy to them, as well. They are there to pick up the pieces for one another, for instance, when there’s a busy week.

Another thing the women share is their love for their families and high school football. Even though Mrs. Bertram doesn’t have anyone playing high school football anymore, she loves to watch with Mrs. Sowell, whose son plays. Both women also love being active and reading the Bible. “Our lives mostly revolve around faith and family,” Mrs. Sowell says.

(From left) Cheryl Sowell and Lori Bertram both know teaching is their vocation, and they feel blessed to be living out that vocation at a Catholic school.

St. Peter Catholic School isn’t just any Catholic school — it’s a very special place for both teachers.