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CSW: Kimberly Mattis has always been at home at St. Thomas the Apostle School

Kimberly Mattis knows that St. Thomas the Apostle School in Delmar is special.

Raised in Bethlehem, Mattis and her family grew up attending Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church — the very one where she was baptized, made her First Communion, and got married. So, when it came time for her to find a job in the area, it worked out that Mattis found herself teaching at the school.

And now, she’s being recognized for her hard work (fittingly, her classroom motto is “work hard, play hard”) with this year’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Distinguished Elementary School Teacher Award. The award “honors a Catholic school teacher who has promoted a school’s Catholic educational vision and who has a strong awareness of a school’s Catholic identity and mission” and “has demonstrated excellence in teaching skills and has a positive effect on the moral growth of students.”

“Walking into her classroom is akin to stepping into a live performance; the energy, enthusiasm, and creativity she brings to her teaching are nothing short of mesmerizing,” Principal Adam Biggs wrote in his nomination letter for Mattis.

One school parent said: “A perennial favorite of students and parents alike, Mrs. Mattis is one of those people who was born to be an educator. Even after all these years in the profession, her energy and enthusiasm are unmatched.”

Mattis, who has taught at St. Thomas for 16 years, said she was shocked and honored to be recognized: “Life — when you measure it in days and hours —  is long, but in years, it’s very, very fast,” Mattis said. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here long enough that they would honor me, but of course, it’s nice to be recognized for the things you do.”

Kimberly Mattis piles in with her first-grade students at a Race for Education event at St. Thomas the Apostle School. 

 Even as a kid, Mattis knew she wanted to go into teaching. 

“From my earliest, earliest recollection, I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “You could go and see pictures of all my dolls (and me) as a teacher. … My grandmother, who I never met, was a teacher, and my great-aunt was a teacher. So, I come from a line of teachers. I think I just always knew.”

Before the classroom, the most impactful teacher in her life was her mother: “Of course, our mothers are our first teachers,” she said. After her, it was her third-grade teacher that left an impact on Mattis. 

“I can tell you what my third-grade brain was saying: it was because she was really pretty, and she looked like Wonder Woman,” she laughed. “She had this black hair and was gorgeous. … And I wasn’t a great student, and I was always worried she was going to find out I wasn’t a great student, and she was always kind to me.”

It also left an impact on how she teaches: just like how her third-grade teacher was kind and supportive, her goal is that one day, her students might look back and think of her in that way: “That one day, they’re sitting there, and they can say when someone says, ‘Who helped you?’ And they can say my name.”

Kimberly Mattis circles her students around for a game.

She obtained her bachelor’s in special education from The College of Saint Rose and her master’s in special education from the City College of New York. She spent a handful of years downstate, taking a break from teaching to start a family with her husband and raise their three boys, but eventually they all moved back to Bethlehem.

Mattis knew she wanted to start teaching again, and when she got the job at St. Thomas, it seemed like just the place she needed. 

“Moving here was during a time in my life that perhaps otherwise wasn’t the happiest time in my life, so I felt like I wanted to be at a place that really had my back and loved me,” she said. “I’ve worked in schools before where I felt that people cared about you, but I never felt that people loved you. And here, you feel that people love you, and that felt comforting.”

Mattis plans to continue teaching “until I can’t or they kick me out,” she laughed. 

“It sounds very simple, but I would say you have to love what you do,” she said. “I know people say if you love your job, it’s not a job, it’s not work, but you have to love what you do, especially with children. These are people’s pride and joy. These are their masterpieces. I think of my kids as my masterpieces, so I want them to be with a teacher who feels that way about them and loves them in that way. I would say that to any teacher coming in: love what you do.”

MORE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

Leading By Faith: https://evangelist.org/news/2025/jan/29/leading-by-faith/ 

Friend and Mentor: https://evangelist.org/news/2025/jan/29/a-friend-and-mentor/ 

The Grand Endeavor of Catholic Education: https://evangelist.org/news/2025/jan/29/the-grand-endeavor-that-is-catholic-education/ 

CSW Awards, Years of Service: http://evangelist.www.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/2025/jan/29/catholic-schools-week-awards/ 

A Creative Classroom: https://evangelist.org/news/2025/jan/29/a-creative-classroom/