500 Evansville Catholic Diocese teachers gather for back to school Mass

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) -- As students in the Evansville Catholic Diocese schools head back to class in a couple days, 500 Catholic school teachers met at Good Shepherd Parish for their back to school Mass on Thursday.
All 26 Catholic schools in the diocese were represented. For some teachers, it marks a time-honored tradition, and, for others, it marks the first service as a teacher in the diocese.
There were seemingly no empty seats as hundreds of educators heard Mass from Bishop Joseph Siegel.
It's the time where the teachers listen to Scripture, sing psalms and take part the Eucharist sacrament, better known as Holy Communion.
As a Memorial High School graduate, this isn't the first time Alyssa Elderkin has been a part of Mass.
This is her first time however sharing Mass with fellow teachers. She will enter St. Benedict as a 2nd grade teacher this year.
"I'm most looking forward to all of it really since it's my first year. But being able to work with the other teachers -- and I'm coming back off a long-term subbing with the group of kids that I'm going to have this year. I'm looking forward to seeing them again and watching them grow," Elderkin says.
For some teachers -- like father-and-son Larry and Sam Mattingly -- this Mass is a real treat.
"I always look forward to it because I have friends that teach at Mater Dei, that teach at Good Shepherd, that teach at St. Ben's. I get to see a lot of my former teachers because I went to St. Ben's and Memorial," says Sam, who teaches theology at Washington Catholic Schools. "A lot of these people are my friends, and getting to see them in this setting is just a unique thing about our profession and about our faith."
"You can teach in the same building with people all year, and you get busy and don't see them much -- much less people at other schools -- but you at least get to slap them on the back or shake hands or take a little bit and realize that we're all in something together and it really feels nice," says Larry, who teaches social studies at Memorial High School.
Some Catholic Dioceses students will start class for the year on Friday.
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