Henrico's Top Teachers - Steven Cottam, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, religion

Is there a god? Why is there suffering? Who am I? What is my purpose here?

Imagine being in a room of 13-year-olds grappling with the age-old, big mysteries of the world. For some, this might seem daunting, but for Steven Cottam – the middle school religion teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School – every day feels like a new adventure.

Middle school is objectively a rough time: awkwardness, anxiety, puberty, acne, and all that great stuff. But middle school is also one of the most interesting time periods, one where kids start questioning the world around them, questioning themselves, and then seeking out the answers – an ideal time period for a religion teacher, said Cottam.

“Kids are finding themselves and starting to ask big questions about who they want to be and what’s life all about,” he said. “They’re not little kids anymore, so they can ask big and hard questions, but they’re still on the younger end, so they’re got that youthful optimism and enthusiasm. I’ve really found my niche there.”

Cottam’s philosophy is that no question, if asked sincerely, is off-limits. He has a question box in his classroom where his students are allowed to submit any topic they want, and Cottam makes sure to engage the class on all questions asked. 

Some of those questions or opinions may be dead-set against Cottam’s own beliefs as a born-and-raised Catholic: “There is no God.” “Everything in life is pointless.” But as a religion teacher, Cottam makes sure to listen and engage with whatever is brought to him, showing to students that his classroom is a space of deep thinking and truth-seeking.

“Sometimes there’s this idea that there are certain things you can’t ask about, that there’s certain questions that are ‘bad questions,’ and you’re a bad kid if you ask that question,” said Cottam. “And we try to really get rid of all that. If you’re sincerely asking, then you’re allowed to ask it, and I want to answer.”

Growing up as Catholic, Cottam knew he wanted to do some sort of work related to the Church. At first, he thought that would mean an academic path towards his doctorate, but after taking a “very part-time” teaching job to help pay the bills, Cottam realized he actually “hated doing research and loved being with kids.”

He spent five years teaching at St. Therese Chinese Catholic School in Chicago, and then moved to Richmond and started teaching at Our Lady of Lourdes, where he has spent the past four years.

Along with being the religion teacher, Cottam is also the religion coordinator at the school. He helps organize the “Prayer Buddies” program – one of his favorites at the school – which pairs each older student with a younger student to attend Mass together every Wednesday morning.

He also oversees the “Passion Play,” a totally student-led production at the end of the year that takes 10 weeks to prepare. Every year, eighth graders write, choreograph, costume, direct, and perform a play on the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the entire school and church community. 

Students get to choose themselves what aspects or characters of the Gospel stories they want to highlight, and the end product is always especially meaningful, said Cottam.

“I feel like every year is always better than the last year. The kids are endlessly creative with the ways that they make it come to life,” he said. “I get to see them really pull out all of the stops and pull out all of their own talents. It’s actually really sad because then we have to say goodbye to them and they all go off to high school.”

Another highlight is when students get to present the community service projects they conducted at the end of the school year. Each middle-schooler completes 10 hours of individual community service each semester, whether that be volunteering at a food pantry, tutoring or coaching younger kids, visiting nursing homes, or passing out water bottles at local races.

One big focus for Cottam in his classroom is teaching his middle-schoolers how to be generous, how to share their gifts and talents with others, and how to honor the dignity of all people – and the community service projects really encapsulate how his young students are learning to be generous people, he said.

“It’s this really beautiful moment where we celebrate all the good that they do,” Cottam said. “You can hear the kids talk about how, ‘yeah, this thing was really hard, but I did it and I really made an impact on this person’s life.’”

As a teacher, Cottam truly embodies the generosity, kindness, and spirituality he aims to instill in his students, said one nominator.

“[Cottam] is one of those teachers who every student in our school knows as someone who demonstrates our values of courage, hope, respect, integrity, service, and thankfulness everyday,” they wrote. “He not only models these traits for our students, but encourages the students to also serve each other with kindness.”

Cottam hopes his students remember one thing from their time with him: living with God is an adventure – sometimes a challenging one, sometimes a straightforward one, but always one worth pursuing.

“It’s worth striving to be the best version of ourselves, it is a project that goes on our whole lives,” he said. “Sometimes it’s easier not to think about the big truths, to not think about the sort of people we’re becoming. But I always try to bring my kids back to how if you do the work of asking the big questions and trying to be a really good person, it is an adventure and it is worth it.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.