Bailey Gray

An additional teaching responsibility of Sauer’s is helping students in the Math Resource area.

Joanie Sauer, known at Benilde-St. Margaret’s as Ms. Sauer, has been teaching math for 13 years. Despite the label as a part-time teacher, she far exceeds the title. Starting as an engineering major at the University of Minnesota, Sauer quickly found her true calling was teaching. While coaching children and working as a group leader, she discovered a passion for helping others. She then transferred to St. Catherine’s University to pursue a degree in education. In 2012, Sauer started teaching Honors and regular Pre-Calculus at BSM. Though she officially teaches 4 class periods, Sauer’s daily routine consists of arriving early and leaving late, while taking on other responsibilities, proving her immense impact on BSM.   

Due to only teaching four class periods, Sauer is listed as a part-time teacher, but anyone who knows her would say she works beyond her title. Sauer is a constant presence in the halls, arriving by 7:15 AM and staying after school hours until 3:30 PM. “I really feel strongly that kids should be able to get help before and after school if they need it, and I’m available to do that,” Sauer said.   

One of her greatest joys as a teacher is changing a student’s perspective of math. Sauer believes that each student is capable of anything if they put their mind to it. Her greatest challenge is when the student doesn’t believe they can. “What I enjoy most is when I get a kid who hates math, to maybe not hate it so much that all of a sudden they understand math and they get that light in their eye like ‘I can do this’, that’s what I enjoy the most,” Sauer said. 

As a standard full-time teacher who teaches five classes, Sauer still enjoys the same benefits that a full-time teacher gets, including health insurance and tuition benefits for her children at BSM. “A full-time teaching load is five classes, so that means that I am an eight-tenths teacher, because out of the 10 possible classes I could teach over a whole entire school year, [I only teach four]. Therefore I only get eight-tenths of the salary that someone else in my position would have,” Sauer said.

Sauer takes on more responsibilities than just teaching. She helps new teachers with their grades and the other challenges that come with being a new teacher. She also is a copy center “sub” when needed, arriving as early as 6:15 AM to help her colleagues have the materials they need. “When our copy center specialist is gone… I get all the copies run, and then during my prep periods, I’ll go in and keep up with the photocopies. I help my peers out by doing that. When I do that, I get paid sub pay, like I was substituting for a class because I’m substituting in the copy room,” Sauer said.

Sauer’s dedication extends beyond her teaching. Her son, Luke Sauer, a senior at BSM, has seen firsthand the time she gives to this school. Since they share a car, her schedule often revolves around his activities. “When I have an activity after school that isn’t at school, like Knowledge Bowl or baseball, she will have to stay at school until my brother can pick her up after he’s done working around 4:15. Before school, she stays in her room helping kids out. For 4th hour, she switches off with Ms. Goldberg at the math resource center on a weekly basis. During her off hours, she usually works in the teacher’s workroom on grading or writing tests. After school, she usually has kids in her room until at least 3:15,” Luke Sauer said.