Situated in the kindergarten classroom at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Elementary School in Clinton, Maryland is a student-sized altar where the youngest students at the school begin their faith formation.
It is in this classroom and around that altar that kindergarten teacher Sonja LoVecchio not only teaches her students their alphabet and numbers, but also how to “perceive our Catholic faith like a kaleidoscope of color and beauty.”
LoVecchio, who converted to the Catholic faith nearly 40 years ago, said she prefers teaching in a Catholic school because “my faith is very important to me – that is everything for me.”
“I am so grateful for it (the Catholic faith), and I have a deep enthusiasm and excitement about it and I am anxious to share it,” she said.
Her devotion to her students and her faith was honored recently as LoVecchio was named as one of 10 Catholic school educators in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington who are receiving a Golden Apple Award for 2026.
The annual award recognizes a teacher’s professional excellence, leadership, commitment to Catholic values, and devotion to teaching in Catholic schools. Winners each receive a $5,000 prize, along with a golden apple.
The Golden Apple Awards, sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Donahue Family Foundation, honor outstanding Catholic school teachers in this archdiocese and several other dioceses.
“She embodies what it means to be an educator, especially a Catholic educator,” Sarah Bento, principal of the school, said of her award-winning teacher. “She is like a spiritual mother to the kids.”
Trained as a Montessori educator, LoVecchio has been a kindergarten teacher at St. John the Evangelist School since 2018. Prior to that, she was a Montessori teacher at several schools and taught in public schools and was a homeschool teacher.
As a kindergarten teacher at the southern Prince George’s County school for the past eight years, LoVecchio said “I have taught every student (at the school) up to those in seventh grade. It is beautiful to watch them grow and see the dynamic change (in them) each year.”
About 60 percent of St. John the Evangelist School students are Hispanic, and LoVecchio, who is of Mexican descent, speaks Spanish with those who have trouble with the English language.
“Because my faith is everything to me… I want to share this gift with my students and their parents,” she said. “I hope to catechize not only the children, but the parents through the children as I share with them what we are learning in the classroom.”
Father Dan Leary, the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish, noted that LoVecchio lives the mission of Catholic education with “great charity and devotion” and “in the quiet and faithful ways that often go unnoticed.”
“Ms. LoVecchio is a woman of deep faith who embodies the spirit of Catholic education,” the priest said. “Through her charity, her leadership, and her love for her students, she quietly forms young hearts to know Christ and His Church.”
He noted that earlier this year, after he spoke with the students about the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and encouraged them to pray the rosary, LoVecchio went out and purchased rosary beads for each of her students.
“In this small act, she helped place the prayer of the Church into the hands of children,” Father Leary said. “She understands that forming the hearts of children in the presence of the Lord is never an inconvenience, but always a grace.”
Bento noted that LoVecchio “instills a strong foundation in the Catholic faith in our youngest students.”
Each day at noon LoVecchio rings a bell and the entire kindergarten class stands together to pray the Angelus. In addition to the school-wide closing prayer, LoVecchio gathers her class to pray a decade of the rosary before dismissal every afternoon.
Each spring, LoVecchio teaches students about the tradition of the scapular, and after learning about this sacramental, she gifts one to each student and arranges for Father Leary to bless them at Mass.
“These devotions are beautiful expressions of faith, and seeing them embraced by kindergarten students is truly inspiring,” Bento said, adding that LoVecchio is “a remarkable blend of a skilled educator and a devoted catechist. She forms students academically while nurturing their faith at a formative age.”
“Religion is not just a separate class, but the very heart of everything she does,” Bento said. “With the decade of the rosary at the end of each school day and the Angelus prayer every day at noon, she gives them (her students) a good foundation in the faith.”
Bento’s son, Zachary, is a student in LoVecchio’s class. “I speak not as a principal, but also as a parent,” Bento said. “As a parent, it is good to know I have support in teaching my child the faith.”
“She is an incredible teacher, and St. John’s is incredibly blessed to have her here,” Bento said. “I hope she knows she is never allowed to retire,”
In recent years, LoVecchio was named as the 2024 St. John the Evangelist School Teacher of the Year and the 2021 Maryland State Council Knights of Columbus Teacher of the Year. In addition to her educational duties, LoVecchio serves her school as a member of the School Advisory Board and as faculty council for the National Junior Honor Society.
A resident of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, LoVecchio and her husband of 35 years, Steve, are parishioners at St. Anthony Parish in North Beach, Maryland. The couple has six children and 14 grandchildren.
Outside of school, LoVecchio has been active in her parish, serving as a Eucharistic minister, the founder and manager of the parish’s spiritual adoption program and a member of the parish’s Seven Sister Apostolate. She participates in the 40 Days for Life campaign and serves as a client advocate for Birthright of Prince Frederick.
In addition to her educational training – LoVecchio holds a master’s degree in Montessori education – she has completed a 90-hour course on catechizing the child from 3 to 6 years of age.
As she is the first teacher most of her students will encounter as they embark on their education, LoVecchio said, “It is my hope I can give them a deep love of learning and a deep love and trust in God.”
“I like the work we do,” said kindergartener Carmella Milazzo. “We learn our alphabet and we learn our numbers.”
She said her teacher “is very kind.” Classmate Noah Frazier said he also enjoys learning numbers and said he would like to thank LoVecchio “for helping me.”
Maria Carmen Santamaria de Palacios, a parent of a student at the school, nominated LoVecchio for the Golen Apple honor.
“Mrs. LoVecchio consistently goes above and beyond to create a nurturing, supportive, and engaging classroom environment where every child feels valued and encouraged to learn,” Santamaria de Palacios said in her nomination letter. “She understands that every child learns differently and works hard to support each student individually.”
As her students gathered on April 22 to cheer for and celebrate with their teacher as she was named a Golden Apple Award winner, LoVecchio told them, “I love every one of you. God made each of you special. Never forget that.”
Incorporating the Catholic faith into everything she teaches, LoVecchio said, “just feels natural and authentic to me.”
“We do not have a ‘religion’ class. The faith is woven into the fabric of every subject, and I am thrilled to have the privilege to do so,” she said.
Link to series of Golden Apple teacher profiles:
