Christian Teacher of the Year: Erin Seitz uses art to ‘serve others and share the good news of Jesus’

Even though Erin Seitz had felt a calling to be a Christian art teacher since 5th grade, she didn’t think it was possible given the path she was on.

“I had three kids. I was a single mom, and I lived an hour away, and I thought there was no way that it was going to happen,” she tells The Lion of the time she applied to Lincoln Lutheran Middle/High School in Nebraska.

“But I had the job in seven days, and God just picked me up and started my life over again and built an incredible community of believers and friends and people that are family now.”

Today Seitz is finishing her master’s degree in education and curriculum and instruction with a focus in trauma and resilience. Her work allows her to integrate biblical principles into her art lessons, showing how creativity can be a form of worship.

“I empower them to use their artistic talents to serve others and share the good news of Jesus,” she explains of her interactions with students.

“They get to connect with God because they’re creating, and we’re created in his image, and He’s the ultimate creator. So, they don’t even know when they walk through the door that they’re walking into a space where they get to connect with God.” 

Seitz also has a “trauma-informed space” in her room, using her expertise in this area to create an environment where children struggling with mental health issues can feel comfortable.

“Kids will come in having panic attacks,” she says. “They know they can come into my space to, if I am able, sit with them and help them breathe through it, pray with them.” 

After eight years of teaching at Lincoln Lutheran, Seitz’s work is changing students’ lives. It’s why she is one of 12 educators around the country to be named 2024 Christian Teacher of the Year by the Herzog Foundation, which publishes The Lion. 

Sheila Psencik, Lincoln Lutheran’s head of school, described Seitz as “a master educator that inspires excellence from her students.” 

“She has the respect of every member of our staff and is a role model not just for our students but for our staff as well,” Psencik wrote in her recommendation letter. 

Pastor Aaron Hutton praised Seitz for founding the Acts of Random Kindness (ARK) club, noting his daughter is one of many students who “approach Erin at sporting events, concerts, and church with smiles and excitement.”

“Erin creates an atmosphere where all students are welcomed and loved,” he wrote in his recommendation letter. “She leads out of a personal knowledge of love from the Heavenly Father. Her life is not perfect and she doesn’t claim it is. She knows the grace of Jesus for her own life and applies that grace to the lives around her.”

Seitz is the first to give all the credit for her story to the Lord.

“Our good and gracious God picked me up out of a world of hurt and pain where I was walking against His will,” she said, noting how she had attended a Christian school from kindergarten through 8th grade. 

“In 5th grade, I remember very clearly feeling a call from the Holy Spirit. I didn’t know what it was, but I just knew. And looking back, I know that I knew then that I was going to be a Christian art teacher.” 

After she received her degree in art education with a Lutheran teacher diploma, however, she started a photography business.

“I was clueless when I graduated from school. I was just very selfish,” she says, noting how God speaks to everyone differently and has promised when people seek Him, they will find Him. “I think through a series of decisions that I had made during college that I had just kind of numbed His voice.” 

Seitz went through a “devastating divorce,” which left her financially strained and looking for more stability. That’s when she discovered the art teacher position at Lincoln Lutheran. 

“Art-teaching jobs don’t come open very often. People get there, and they stay there for a long period of time. So, it was kind of shocking and amazing at the same time.”

Seitz relates to other award recipients who shared they don’t feel worthy of the honor, encouraging them to see how God is positioning each educator for work he’s already prepared for them. 

“All of our paths and our journeys are so different, and it’s OK to be who we are because we have specific things that God’s created for us to do.” 

For example, Seitz’s ARK club members meet weekly to plan and perform small acts – such as handing out bubbles to students leaving school or homemade Christmas cookies to teachers – to bless their school together.

“I encourage students each week by reminding them that even one small act of kindness can change everything for someone else and that kindness is the one thing that doubles when you give it away,” she wrote in a letter describing the club. “They have embraced the challenge! Even though we still make mistakes and don’t act kind all of the time, we are covered in the grace of God. We are aware of how we treat others and can work together to create a culture of love, kindness and integrity.”

Although the challenges for Christian educators can feel overwhelming, the rewards take place every day in the lives of their students, according to Seitz.

“So many kids are walking in such darkness and so much pain and so much trauma, that if I can be a person who’s speaking God’s truth into their life to light their path, even just to take that first step, what a blessing that is,” she said in a video about her experience. “In turn I get to help create servant leaders to go back out into the world. And that’s our ultimate goal, is to make heaven crowded.”

The Christian Teacher of the Year honor is part of the Herzog Foundation’s Excellence in Christian Education award series. Each of the 12 winners will attend a special professional development and recognition event in Washington, D.C.