Dan Gallagher cheers his team on as head basketball coach during a boys basketball game.
By Katie Eskro
Last February when middle school teacher Dan Gallagher and the whole middle and high school at Roncalli Catholic Schools in Aberdeen gathered in the gym for an assembly, Dan had no idea what the hub bub was about. When it was announced at the assembly that someone was being awarded with the Milken Educator Award, Dan thought of several teachers and mentors who he thought likely to win the award.
When he heard his own name as the recipient, he was shocked.
“Hearing my name was not only a major surprise, but it was an extremely humbling experience,” Dan said. He had never heard of the Milken Educator Award before that day.
At the assembly, Dan learned that the Milken Educator Award honors “top educators around the country … [and is] not an accolade for ‘lifetime achievement’ or the proverbial gold watch at the exit door.” Rather, the award “targets early-to-mid career education professionals for their already impressive achievements and, more significantly, for the promise of what they will accomplish in the future,” according to the Milken Educator Award website.
On the shoulders of giants
For Dan, he feels that he would not have received this award without the influence and impact of teachers, coaches and mentors who have impacted him throughout his education and into his own teaching and coaching years. A graduate of Roncalli himself, many of those who formed him in his younger years are still in his life and mentoring him as a teacher.
“I know there were so many others who were well deserving of the recognition, and the reason I was named ‘winner’ is because of the commitment so many staff and faculty members in our school system poured into me over the last 20-some years,” Dan said.
Dan says that Terry Dosch and Mark Stone are two people who come to mind as coaches and teachers who have made a lasting impact on his life. “They drove me to become the very best version of myself every day and helped me to discover courage, strength, wisdom and so many other qualities I wouldn’t have been able to find on my own,” he said.
These men and other former teachers and current coworkers at Roncalli have continued to help Dan develop and grow in virtue, holiness and relationship with Jesus. Dan says that if it weren’t for all of these people who have influenced him, he is confident he would not be the person and teacher he is today and would not have received the Milken Educator Award.
“I truly believe this recognition is meant to honor them as much or more than it is to recognize me,” Dan said. “It is a clear representation of the impact faith-filled teachers and faith-based educators have on the lives of their students.”
A witness to the faith
At first, Dan chose to pursue teaching because he wanted to be a coach. His life had been changed by his own coaches, and he wanted to “make a difference in the lives of others” in the same way. However, as he began his teaching and coaching career, he realized the privilege of teaching as well.
“I recognized the potential to have the same impact on the lives of my students in the classroom as well and began to fall in love with teaching,” Dan said.
Dan teaches middle school science and is an assistant football coach, the head boys basketball coach, and works with student athletes in strength training and conditioning. In all of these avenues, Dan perceives the immense responsibility and potential he can play in his students and athletes lives.
You could boil Dan’s teaching and coaching philosophy down to three things: witnessing, encouraging growth in virtue and leading in loving service.
Witnessing is a foundational part of Dan’s calling as a teacher. To him, being a witness of God’s love is a vital part of discipling and leading his students and athletes to follow God. He does this by loving them and accepting them where they are.
“We strive to help students understand that they matter, they have a place in this classroom and in this world, and they are loved,” Dan said.
There are two prayers that were taught to Dan by his former teacher and coach and current co-worker, Mark Stone, that he tries to remember to pray each day to prepare himself to be a witness to his students. The first is, “Lord, fill my heart,” and the second is, “Help me to be a blessing in the lives of my students.” Dan recognizes that in order to be a witness to those around him, he first needs to go to the source of love and mercy. He goes to adoration and confession frequently with his students, attends Mass twice a week, and takes part in spiritual development with the whole staff twice a month. He also is a part of a men’s group at Roncalli that allows him to continue to grow in his own relationship with God.
“I am nowhere near perfect in [living the Christian life] and nowhere near the witness I want to be yet, but every day, I strive to be an example of Christ through my service to others,” Dan said.
Guided by virtue and service
Growth in virtue and service is essential to Dan’s philosophy of helping his students and those he coaches. “Whether it be in Catholic schools or public schools, I believe educators play an incredibly important role in helping students grow in virtue and holiness,” Dan said.
To him, this means that an educator must never forget the end goal. He feels that a teacher’s focus shouldn’t just be on students obtaining perfect grades, a good ACT score or performing well at a sport. Rather, an educator’s eyes should stay fixed on the path to Jesus and heaven and what their students need in order to take the next step.
“An educator is someone who, in the simplest terms, seeks to get students where they need to go,” Dan said. “Our ultimate destination is eternity in heaven, and educators play a vital role in helping students reach that destination by helping them grow into the person God created them to be.”
Whether in the classroom, on the basketball court, or on the football field, Dan is creative in inviting God into his life and the lives of his students. “[I like to] correlate Scripture readings into our practices and sessions as often as possible and relate it to the content or circumstances we are facing in those moments,” Dan says. Doing this reminds him that “we were created to serve others.”
The third and pinnacle of Dan’s teaching philosophy is service. Dan strives to live a life of service and builds service into his students through practical and hands-on practice. He often has his basketball team clean up the bleachers after games and encourages them to volunteer in helping with tournaments and coaching youth teams.
“I want them to know they are never too great to serve,” Dan said. “And I try to be an example of that every day, whether that is by sweeping the gym floor, volunteering for school activities or cleaning up after basketball games.”
Throughout his teaching and coaching career, Dan has relied on his relationship with God to be the kind of teacher and coach his students and athletes can look up to. It has been a guide for him in forming his students and athletes and living a life of discipleship.
“My philosophy behind teaching is to empower students to make a difference in the lives of others while striving to become all God created them to be,” Dan said. “It is all based on striving to do good works in the pursuit of becoming the holy men and women we were created to be.”
Students’ witness
Aiden Fisher, 2025 graduate of Roncalli High School and freshman at South Dakota State University, never had Dan as a teacher but had him as a basketball coach for six years. Dan coached Aiden’s seventh grade class and happened to move up with Aiden’s grade as he aged.
“It was an experience I am never going to forget because [Mr. Gallagher] is such a good leader and such a good person,” Aiden said. “He’s the guy that turned me into the person I am today, and he’s a very good role model for younger kids.”
Now in his freshman year of college, Aiden says that Dan’s impact continues to help him grow in virtue and holiness.
“He is a leader and always tries his best to live like Jesus,” Aiden said. “Mr. Gallagher has impacted me [in helping me to] be a leader, in communication, in my faith, loving football and in just being myself.”
Clare Peterson is a ninth grader attending Roncalli Middle School. She has had Mr. Gallagher as a teacher for four years. She said that he is a fun teacher who helps students have fun but still stay focused. She also said that last year, Mr. Gallagher made a big impression on her during their Wednesday house talks.
“We would always watch videos and talk about faith and virtues, and he would always talk to us about what helped and how he grew in his faith,” Clare says. “He always made sure we knew that God is always there, to always put God first, and [he] gave us so many ways that we can learn and grow in our faith. That was the one class on Wednesday that I knew I could always ask about faith and God and focused most on because everything he’d say would stick with me for a long time.”
Aiden and Clare’s words and examples hearken back to Dan’s own experience of being formed by his own teachers and coaches. Dan said of his mentors: “They drove me to become the very best version of myself every day and helped me discover courage, strength, wisdom and so many other qualities I wouldn’t have been able to find on my own. Their influence still impacts me today, and I strive every day to have the same impact on my students as they [have] had on my life.”
(Photos
courtesy of Jill Young, director of marketing and assistant director of development, Aberdeen Catholic School System.)
Katie Eskro is a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Aberdeen where she works as coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She has a degree in journalism and is pursuing a master’s degree in philosophy.
