Archbishop Carroll High School has a unique way to recognize teachers: the Marigold Project. Launched in September 2024, the monthly project celebrates a staff member.

“The marigold supports the plants around it,” said Elizabeth Emser, Director of Teacher Development at Carroll. “It takes on the hardship of different insects and creatures so that plants around them can thrive. We just want to showcase that our teachers … are the ‘marigolds’ that help support the students and [other] teachers. They put everyone else first. It’s a vocation [and] a service. We want them to know that their support and what they give to others is really important.”

“After school, you’ll find students in a teacher’s room; maybe because they need help with academics, but it’s more… [because] they respect that teacher and want advice,” said Emser.

She continued, “We have what we call a house system, where every adult in our building is mentoring students … in a home room, called a family room. It gives the teachers the opportunity to develop those relationships.”

A unique aspect of the project is that the winning “marigold” chooses his or her successor. “Our teachers are using techniques, instruction and different strategies that are pushing themselves and others to develop better strategies in order to pursue academic excellence. The teachers … are seeing the monumental things that the [others] are doing in their classroom.”

The marigold nomination extends beyond teachers to all school staff members; the first one was a guidance counselor. “It can definitely go to anyone,” said Emser. “We encourage that: whether it’s a staff member doing really awesome work in what their job is for our school or … a teacher developing curriculum and instructing. What’s really awesome about our school is that we’re on the same mission. [Everyone] is able to
have a relationship with our students. They uplift and support our students every day.”

Michael Franz, Director of Communications at Carroll, creates a video every month with photos of the “marigold” and an insight to the person’s activities within the school and community, as well as their lives beyond the classroom, such as family, hobbies and faith. The video is first shared at the monthly faculty meeting, then posted to Carroll’s social media and website. “This has really engaged our community and also
helped with internal comms by adding a special moment to what can typically be a boring meeting,” said Franz.

After sharing the videos online, Carroll has received positive feedback from alumni, and even alumni’s parents, about the person’s impact while the student attended the school.

“Catholic schools are very special in that alumni can continue to come back and see what the school is doing,” said Emser. They can see their teachers being recognized and remind [the students] of why they were here at the school, what they learned, the academic excellence and the faith formation.”

This article appeared in the January 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here