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Educators give 35 years to schools
By Nissa LaPoint
Sister Brendan Jordan, C.PP.S.
Mullen High School, Denver
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Most Precious Blood Sister Brendan Jordan said education is the passion of her life.
She’s taught in the Denver Archdiocese for 35 years and founded the De La Salle program at Mullen High School, which helps incoming students deficient in certain skills to able to succeed.
“I am convinced these years are the most important ones in their lives and my job is to help them acquire the tools with which they can learn to be productive Catholics,” said Sister Jordan, assistant principal of the Denver school.
After earning a master’s degree in administration and supervision in 1957 from DePaul University in Chicago and a second master’s degree in library and media studies from the University of Denver, Sister Jordan taught at private elementary and high schools in Ohio and Arizona. She went on to become principal at two Ohio Catholic schools before coming to Mullen, which offers a Catholic education in the Christian Brother’s Lasallian tradition.
Teaching at Mullen and following the success of graduates gives her great joy, she said.
Kathy Plevniak
St. Thérèse School, Aurora
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In her 35 years of teaching, Kathy Plevniak said she’s received more from her students than what she’s given to them.
“They have all been a gift to me,” Plevniak said. “The kids are wonderful and caring.”
She began her teaching career instructing special needs students at an Ohio high school before teaching fourth grade at St. Thérèse School in Aurora, where she has taught all 35 years.
“She is such a great teacher and exudes the joy of teaching even after all these years,” said Laura Dement, principal of St. Thérèse School.
It’s the students’ eagerness to learn and kindness that Plevniak said she most enjoys about teaching. All the staff and faculty she works with continue to inspire her on a daily basis, she said.
Plevniak earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Youngstown State University in 1974. She has been married for 36 years and has two grown sons.
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