Johann proudly honors the families who built German Village while embracing their new American home. He reminds students on our country’s 250th anniversary that freedom, responsibility, and community go hand in hand.

Johann Bauer keeps one foot in the old world and one in the new, and he considers that a fine place to stand. He knows the names of the families who came to German Village with almost nothing and built a neighborhood that has lasted 150 years. He tells those stories to anyone who'll listen — which, at St. Mary School, turns out to be quite a few kids.

In this country's 250th anniversary year, Johann thinks a lot about what the immigrants who built this Village understood: that freedom isn't just something you have, it's something you tend. Like a garden. Like a community. Like a school. He thinks the students at St. Mary are getting a good education in all three.