Blasts of confetti and loud cheers from students rained down on Julie C. Stinger, a longtime teacher at St. Martin of Tours School in Gaithersburg, as she walked into an April 17 surprise ceremony where it was announced that she is a 2026 Golden Apple Award-winning teacher in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. But she had a double surprise as she walked to the stage and spotted three of her five adopted children in attendance, joining the celebration.
Stinger reacted with pure joy as she embraced her children who are now adults.
Moments later in the surprise ceremony, Stinger wiped away tears as Stephen Lamont, the school’s principal, congratulated her.
“You are the source of light and joy for so much we do here… Thank you for everything you bring and do for our school,” he said.
In her brief remarks, Julie Stinger said, “I’ve loved St. Martin’s since the day I walked through the door. I have loved every student who has come through… Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you!”
For the past 25 years, Stinger has been a teacher at St. Martin of Tours School, wearing many hats there. She teaches art to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students, religion to sixth and seventh graders, serves as the school’s librarian for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students, and is a homeroom teacher for sixth graders.
The 10 Golden Apple Award-winning teachers for this school year in the Archdiocese of Washington will be honored at a May 21 dinner. The teachers will each receive a golden apple and a monetary award of $5,000 from the Donahue Family Foundation, which sponsors the annual award for teaching excellence and dedication to Catholic education.
In an interview before the ceremony, Stephen Lamont praised Stinger for the impact she has had on St. Martin of Tours School, which he has witnessed since he became principal there eight years ago.
“Her passion for this school is unmatched. There is no aspect of this school that she doesn’t understand or care for or believe in,” he said, adding, “She knows about everything happening in the school. If she sees a need, she’s going to put herself in there and figure out how to get it done.”
That point was echoed in a letter from Father David Wells, the pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish, nominating Stinger for the Golden Apple Award.
“Julie has been a bedrock of St. Martin’s School for almost three decades. She steps up wherever she is needed,” Father Wells wrote.
He noted that the teacher also leads a popular Green Team at the school that has planted and cares for gardens growing vegetables and native plants and planted 100 bushes outside the school this spring. Stinger helped lead the committee planning for the school’s Centennial Gala this past fall, and she also organizes the school’s yearbook club and is active with the school and parish’s large Girl Scout troop.
“Julie is a teacher’s teacher. She serves as a mentor to many of our younger faculty and is a unifying force in the community. She has given her heart and soul to St. Martin’s for decades,” the priest wrote.
In interviews before and after the surprise ceremony, Julie Stinger’s three adult children who were there spoke about their admiration for their mother who adopted them and how the love they experienced from her at home is also seen in the love that she shows to her students.
“She just has the biggest heart. She’s such a giver. ‘No’ is not in her vocabulary. She’ll take on anything. Her answer is because she loves the kids,” said her daughter Nikki Sumpter.
She added that her mom “sees the best in everybody.”
Stinger’s daughter Holly Longley said St. Martin’s School is her mom’s “second home. Her love for the kids is unmatched… They bring so much joy to her life.”
One of the teacher’s three sons, Michael Stinger, said he doesn’t know how his mom as a single parent did it, raising five adopted children and being so active in the school over the years.
“She was my teacher for three years, for the sixth, seventh and eighth grade” at St. Martin’s School, he said, adding that as his teacher, his mom was “firm but fair” and was understanding and encouraging to her students.
Before the ceremony, Father James Fangmeyer, a parochial vicar at St. Martin of Tours Parish, marveled at Stinger’s life as a mother and teacher. “She’s got her adopted kids, the school kids, St. Martin’s (parish) kids. She’s all in!” the priest said.
In an essay written for the Golden Apple Award nomination, Julie Stinger noted that her path to teaching began when she attended St. Michael’s School in Silver Spring, where she was “forever helping the teachers” and “learning as much as I could from anyone who would teach me.”
“My desire to teach and learn followed me through high school and college, and it bloomed fully as a single mother to five adopted children,” Stinger wrote, adding, “They were my first classroom, and I had no manual to follow. They taught me patience and perseverance. They taught me how to differentiate and connect to each child individually. Most of all, they taught me that there is always a way to reach a child through love and empathy.”
Stinger adopted four of her children through the foster care system, and in 1998, she was recognized as a Foster Parent of the Year.
She held various jobs over the years, but in 2001, Stinger said that “after many adventures,” she joined the staff at St. Martin of Tours School, fell in love with teaching religion to students there, and found her vocation as a Catholic school teacher.
St. Martin’s students praised her approach to teaching.
Eighth grader Braxton Stith noted that Stinger “really helps everybody learn… She’s always kind to people. She doesn’t judge. She tries to include everybody in every activity.” He added that “she relates to everybody… She never lets anyone disrespect or treat anyone differently.”
Fifth grader Marialis Arreaga said Stinger “always likes to teach us new things… She encourages us to keep trying and never give up.”
Over the years, before St. Martin’s eighth graders graduate, Stinger’s art students design and paint a ceiling tile that gets displayed overhead for years to come. Visitors looking up in those classrooms can see students’ paintings of nature scenes, animals, cartoon characters and superheroes and other works of art. For a recent project, students painted colorful flowers as a Mother’s Day gift for their moms.
In her essay, Stinger noted, “As an art teacher, I see opportunities for my students to mirror God’s work, teaching them that they are His masterpieces in progress.”
Reflecting on her work as school librarian, Stinger wrote, “I share my love of reading as I help children find the stories that shape their character, the stories that show the wonder and awe of God’s creation.”
In addition to a statue of Mary on display, the tops of the shelves of St. Martin’s school library are lined with stuffed animals including the Cat in the Hat and Curious George, and the walls are filled with illustrations from classic children’s books, including a scene from “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak and a colorful firefly by Eric Carle.
Julie Stinger has also made her mark outside St. Martin’s School, leading the Green Team there that has planted bushes and vegetable and flower gardens on the grounds, with a garden of native plants to Maryland including the state flower, Black-eyed Susans, that draws butterflies.
In her essay, Stinger said it is the greatest gift for her to be a witness to the Gospel as a Catholic school teacher, sharing and teaching the love of God with her students.
The veteran teacher known for her love she has shared with her family and students wrote, “Through my religion classes, in our art projects and with our library books, there is no better way for me to spread all the love that was once taught to me.”
Link to series with Golden Apple teacher profiles:
https://www.cathstan.org/series/2026-golden-apple-teachers-in-archdiocese-of-washington
