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15 educators marking a quarter-century of service in Catholic schools
By Roxanne King
Fifteen educators are marking 25 years of service in Catholic schools in the Denver Archdiocese this academic year.
Laura Mossman
Annunciation School
Laura Mossman began teaching kindergarten at Annunciation School in the Archdiocese of Denver and has been there for a quarter century. She has been a teacher for a total of 32 years.
“These 25 years (at Annunciation) have been a wonderful adventure of being one part of a hugely successful school,” she said. She added that she enjoys “serving and caring for this urban-Denver neighborhood and especially for its youth.”
Steve Blair
Holy Family High School
Longtime Holy Family High School educator Steve Blair wears many hats at the Broomfield school. He currently teaches psychology and AP government, is the social studies department chair, sophomore counselor, head track coach and assistant cross country coach.
A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School in 1974, he attended the University of Northern Colorado earning degrees in social studies and psychology. He later received a master’s in counseling from the University of Phoenix. His teaching career has included stints in the Jefferson County School District, and at Green Mountain and Arapahoe high schools before arriving at Holy Family in 1986. Blair said he believes the role of education is to educate the whole person, to help students discover who they are, and to acquire the skills and benefits of cooperation and team work. He also urges students to appreciate human differences.
“It’s important for a teacher to instill a love of learning into his/her students,” he said. “If a teacher genuinely loves teaching, the student is more likely to love learning.”
Peggy Greaney
Holy Family High School
Peggy Greaney is a fixture at Holy Family High School in Broomfield where she has taught science for 25 years. She is also moderator of the school’s National Honor Society. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire where she studied biology and education, Greaney worked at Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. She taught in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York before arriving at Holy Family. She said her hope is to expand a student’s knowledge and understanding of science and to help them take responsibility for their own learning.
Linda Knowlden
Nativity of Our Lord
Linda Knowlden teaches first grade at Nativity of Our Lord School in Broomfield.
After attending California State University-Dominguez Hills and Catholic Distance University in Mass., Knowlden taught at Sacred Heart Mission School in Prince George, British Columbia, before arriving to Colorado, where she has taught at St. Mary School in Las Animas, St. Stephen School in Glenwood Springs and Franktown Elementary School. She taught at St. Anne School in Grants Pass, Ore., before coming to Nativity.
Knowlden said she tries to follow the example of Jesus and to see each student as a beloved child of his.
“He has entrusted these precious children to me and I try to teach with his compassionate love,” she said. “Jesus is at the center of my teaching and my students’ learning. We offer all of our lessons to and for, love of Him. I try to help my students strive to be who God created them to be, to come to know and love him, to do their best and reach their highest in all areas, always for his honor and glory.”
Yvonne Chavez
Notre Dame
Yvonne Chavez is the pre-school group leader at Notre Dame School in Denver, where she said has happily been for 25 years.
“I’ve worked with children ranging in age from 3 to 12,” she said. “All children are gifts from God with their own special gifts and talents. A good educator knows how to bring these gifts out in them.”
Jean Williamson
Shrine of St. Anne
For 25 years Jean Williamson has taught at the Shrine of St. Anne School in Arvada. She currently teachers fifth grade.
After spending most of her elementary education in a one-room school in rural Nebraska, Williamson graduated from Wayne State College in Nebraska with a degree in elementary education. In more than three decades of working in the classroom in Iowa and Colorado, she has taught kindergarten, first, third and fifth grades as well as junior high. She also teaches religious education.
“Because each student is unique, it is important that I get to know them personally so that I can appreciate their talents and capabilities,” she said. “I encourage all students to use their God-given gifts wisely, so that they can be productive members of their community. As a Catholic school teacher, I am blessed to be able to instruct students in their faith and to deepen their love for Christ.”
Barbara Kinsey
St. John the Evangelist
For 25 years, Barbara Kinsey has taught second grade at St. John the Evangelist School in Loveland. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, she taught at Childwood Preschool/Kindergarten before arriving at St. John, where she said instilling a love of learning into her students is a daily passion, as well as hoping they will look back at their time in school with fondness.
“I love that I can talk to my students about the importance of faith in their daily lives,” she said. “I try to teach my students to respect and value everyone around them. Life in second grade is always changing and evolving, no day is ever the same as any other.”
Bill Giddings
St. Louis, Englewood
Now at St. Louis School in Englewood, Bill Giddings has taught at several schools in the Archdiocese of Denver. After attending the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico and Nicholls State University in Thibodeaux, La., he taught in Louisiana and New Mexico before coming to Colorado where he has taught and served as principal at J.K. Mullen High School, Most Precious Blood and Bishop Machebeuf High School. He worked as a substitute teacher at Christ the King in Denver before coming to St. Louis where he teaches religion and social studies.
Giddings said he takes his philosophy of Catholic education from a patron saint of Catholic education, St. John Baptist de la Salle and founder of the Lasallian Brothers.
“I see my role in Catholic education as being caring and vigilant of the students entrusted to me to lead them to be successful in their lives,” he said.
Patricia Stanford
St. Louis, Louisville
Patricia Stanford graduated from St. Xavier University in Chicago with degrees in elementary education and early childhood development. After two years teaching at Queen of Martyrs School in Chicago, she relocated to Colorado and has been teaching at St. Louis School in Louisville since. She is also an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist for the school.
Her philosophy on teaching is for each child to reach their full academic potential and to develop a strong and lasting relationship with God so they can find happiness in any situation in which they may find themselves.
Jean Kobus
St. Mary, Littleton
After attending Midland College in Fremont, Neb., Jean Kobus taught junior high language arts in Columbus, Neb., for 12 years. She then came to Colorado and has been at St. Mary School in Littleton for 25 years, teaching seventh- and eighth-grade language arts and speech. She also serves as full-time assistant principal.
Regarding her philosophy on education, Kobus refers to the St. Mary School mission statement, which states: “Our purpose is to educate the heart, mind, body and soul of the student and to develop the potential in each, giving glory to God.”
Kobus said she cannot think of a better way to spend her time.
Judy Johnson
St. Mary’s Academy
Judy Johnson moved to Denver from New Orleans in 1986 and began her teaching career with the archdiocese at Blessed Sacrament School, where she taught second grade for three years. Her daughters, however, were attending St. Mary’s Academy and when a position in primary opened, she jumped at the chance to join them. She has been at St. Mary’s Academy now for 22 years.
“I enjoy teaching all of the elementary subjects, however, my very favorite subject is science,” she said. “I really love seeing the looks on the children’s faces when a discovery is made.”
Carol Tufano
St. Pius X
Teaching fourth- and fifth-grade literature, Carol Tufano studied elementary education at St. John’s University in Flushing, N.Y. For the past 25 years she has worked with the children at St. Pius X School in Aurora, first as preschool teacher, then kindergarten for 10 years, second grade for 10 years and now fifth grade. Her philosophy is that all students are capable of learning and bring something unique and special into the classroom.
“As a teacher I want to create a classroom where students feel successful and safe,” she said. “I hope to inspire a love of learning in each of my students.”
Laura Dement
St. Therese
Laura Dement obtained her teaching degree at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She spent her first five years of teaching in Saudi Arabia for the International Schools System and when she returned to the United States in 1986, she taught at Good Shepherd School for 15 years before becoming assistant principal. She served as principal at St. Therese in 2002. Dement said there are three things in life that make one successful: faith, behavior and work ethic.
“The whole child must be developed spiritually, intellectually, socially and culturally, according to Christ’s example as found in the Gospel,” she said.
Mary Goldy
St. Vincent de Paul
Mary Goldy teaches English and literature to seventh- and eighth-grade students at St. Vincent de Paul School in Denver. She attended Glassboro State College in Glassboro, N.J., where she studied elementary education and then taught for 12 years in the public school system in New Jersey before moving to Colorado.
She strives to treat her students as individuals, encourages them to do their best as thinkers, and supports them in their academic and spiritual endeavors to prepare them as lifelong Catholics.
Kathy Giles
Holy Trinity
For 25 years Kathy Giles has taught at Holy Trinity School in Westminster. After studying at the University of Northern Colorado, Giles obtained licensure as a preschool director. She said that in preschool, children should be able to experience God’s love and caring through all their interactions with their friends and teachers.
“I love teaching at Holy Trinity,” she said. “I have been here for 25 years and I have watched our school grow and change. It is a wonderful place for children and teachers to learn the real meaning of being Catholic. God put me here for a reason, and I thank him every day.”
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