Corpus Christi Kindergarten Teacher Retiring After 21 Years

After teaching, encouraging, and motivating students for 21 years, Karen Hinderliter is retiring from the kindergarten position at Evansville’s Corpus Christi Catholic School, where she has been the first and only kindergarten teacher.

Hinderliter plans to cook more meals, train more at the gym, spend more time with her family, read through her stack of books while possibly writing a book of her own, and enjoy boating. She also wants to substitute teach occasionally to keep in contact with the staff, faculty and students at Corpus Christi.

Though she is excited to start a new chapter of her life after teaching, Hinderliter will miss the stories and the conversations with the students, parents, faculty and staff who she has come to know over the years. Connecting and guiding her students has been one of her favorite experiences while teaching.

She has also enjoyed visits from former Corpus Christi students who are in high school, so she can reconnect with them and hear of their successes. She is thankful to have touched the lives of so many young people.

"I have enjoyed watching my students grow in knowledge, confidence and spirituality," Hinderliter said. "I love seeing their personalities blossom into thinkers who understand that they are important and can contribute to their families and friends in meaningful ways."

Jesus has been the biggest influence in her years of teaching. He has offered her a more prayerful life and given her the opportunity to guide young people in faith.

"I cannot count how many times I have thought about how blessed I am to teach in a Catholic school with so many opportunities to read the stories of Jesus from the Bible and other trade books, then to discuss them with my young students," Hinderliter said. 

Studying the Catholic faith in depth, Hinderliter has shared her spirituality with her students and has loved to see them develop an appreciation for the Catholic faith.