school news
Mr. Yatcko Celebrates 25 Years of Teaching at Saint John Berchmans School By: Ashley Timmons HE’S THE FIRST person you see as you step foot on SJB’s school campus and the last person you see as you leave for the day. Not only does he meet and greet every student with a high five or an elbow bump these days--he’s also the middle school religion teacher-and Santa Claus! This year, Jim Yatcko celebrates 25 years of teaching at St. John Berchmans Catholic School. He’s the cool religion teacher with the ZZ Top beard and the dark sunglasses who teaches our faith with a game of baseball or music from The Allman Brothers Band. He’s the one who leads the faculty in prayer for every meeting and he’s our go-to guy for all things rock and roll. In his early 30s, Jim Yatcko felt the calling to become a religion teacher. It was through caring for his mother during her illness and death, that he found this calling. He was a volunteer CCD teacher at his local church parish, 28 THE CATHOLIC CONNECTION
St. Paul’s Church in Minden, Louisiana where he taught his daughter’s 7th-grade religion class. “When I walked into that room, I felt at home. I felt I belonged there. It was then I found my calling... so good things can come out of hard times,” he says. After becoming certified as a Level 3 Catechist through the Greco Institute with the Diocese of Shreveport, Yatcko began driving a transport van shuttling students from Minden to St. John Berchmans Catholic School where he landed his first teaching job in middle school religion, a position he’s remained in for the past 25 years. Students in a Catholic school have the unique opportunity to fulfill the sacraments, attend confession, and go to weekly Mass. Religion class at SJB includes the study of Catholic doctrine and traditions, scripture, social justice, and service to others. Yatcko says that although he has been through many
textbooks over the years, textbooks are only a place to start. He says students should bring their life experiences to the classroom and much of what he teaches deals with sharing and discussing. Yatcko says, “If you were to ask me what my job description is, I’m not a religion teacher. It’s my job to share faith with young people. That’s what I do.” An item on the school supply list for middle school is a Bible. Yatcko says students should learn how to use their bibles otherwise, bibles will stay on the shelf. Middle schoolers learn the Old Testament in 6th, New Testament in 7th, and a mixture of both including Confirmation preparation for 8th. Yatcko has always loved scripture and wanted to share it with others. “What’s important for them to learn hasn’t changed,” he states. Yatcko collaborates with faculty in other departments like English, History,
