"There's a teacher here who is always there if you need a shoulder, or you just need to talk. She's been a teacher for more than 50 years and she always goes beyond the call of duty. Besides teaching religion to grades 6 through 8, she also helps the first graders with reading and helps out in the media center. "

She does everything with a smile and a loving hand. She makes us all feel like family and will stop at nothing to bring the youth of this school closer to God. She is truly a gift.

Congratulations to Sister Theresa, the recipient of the Golden Apple Award.

We presented Sister with the award just days before Christmas.. Her favorite time of the year... Celebrating the birth of Jesus - the center of her life.

"I can bring Jesus into my teaching and they grow up knowing and loving God and doing things for Him and one of my favorite sayings is if anything goes wrong in their life, or something... A pain or something... I always say, 'offer it up for Jesus.' He suffered more than we do," says Sister Theresa Renninger.

Sister's been an educator for 55 years - 23 of them here at St. Mary's where many students submitted a nomination in her name.

"It's really from like the entire 8th grade - basically from the entire school because she really helped out with everything and everything you see right now - she helped in one way or another,” says 8th grader, Natalie Ehmke.

Kathryn Merkling another 8th grader says, "You'll see her everywhere - it's like there's 3 of her because she does so much for our school."

Sister plans to retire at the end of the school year - but that doesn't mean she plans to slow down... She'll be a blessing wherever she goes.