It's International Women's Day and we thought it would be a great opportunity to honor all of the women who currently teach at Notre Dame. We'd love to profile each and every one of them — and eventually that probably will happen — but in the meantime, take a look at just a few of the more than 65 women teachers who are making a real difference in the education and lives of our students.
Kimberly Kriesel
When Notre Dame's lower division opened in the fall of 2004 in only its second year of existence, one of the staffers on hand that day was second-grade teacher Kimberly Kriesel, who had recently graduated from college. Since that day, Kriesel has been a mainstay at the division, 10 years in front of second graders and currently in her fifth year teaching first graders. Read more …
Patricia Hall
Patricia Hall is an accomplished professional musician who for many years had performed all over the world. But when her now-grown son was born, she decided to go back to college and get her master's degree in order to teach. She began her first teaching job after her son started school. Read more …
Carolyn Tuski
One of Notre Dame's new teachers this year didn't take too long to get used to the school's campus in Pontiac. That's because Carolyn Tuski, the school's botany teacher and greenhouse manager, is a 2010 graduate of Notre Dame Prep. Read more …
Kelly Simon
When Kelly Simon, currently a literature teacher in Notre Dame's middle division, and her family moved back to Michigan from New York City, priority one was finding a good school for her three daughters. The family had come from a great school in New York, she said, where they learned about what it means to be part of a positive well-supported school community. Read more …
Jennifer Pakkala
During a number of recent interviews with students for an upcoming Notre Dame marketing video, the kids frequently cited their teachers as being highly influential and inspirational for them in many positive ways. One name seemed to continue to pop up with regularity for Notre Dame's high schoolers: Mrs. Pakkala. Read more …
LeAnne Schmidt
LeAnne Schmidt was honored on Mackinac Island by the Michigan Speech Coaches Incorporated (MSCI). Read more …
Mary Jane Williams
Longtime French teacher Mary Jane Williams has been a fan of the language of France for many years. In fact, she says it goes back to high school. Read more …
Nadine Loria
When Nadine Loria talks about her job as a teacher in Notre Dame's middle school, it's easy to see why she does what she does. Read more …
Sandy LewAllen
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, Notre Dame visual arts teacher Sandy LewAllen received the inaugural "Inspiring High School Teacher Award" at the 2018 Scholastic Art awards ceremony, which was held at the Detroit Film Theatre. Read more …
Sylvia Mulrenin
In late March of 2017, ahead of his lecture at the National Science Teachers Association’s (NSTA) national conference in Los Angeles, Bill Nye the noted "Science Guy" said emphatically that those in attendance were "his people." Read more …
Lauren Zajdel
When Lauren Zajdel was in college, she had her mind set on becoming an illustrator. But when she neared her BFA degree from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, the Great Recession was hitting the U.S. economy and she thought she needed a fallback plan since jobs for illustrators were becoming scarce. Turns out her plan B was what led her to NDPMA this fall to teach art in the school’s middle division. Read more …
Marisol Aguilar-Fernandez
During what was a typical school day at Notre Dame, middle-division students in Marisol Aguilar-Fernandez’s Spanish class were learning about—and experiencing—a common celebration in Galicia, a northwestern region of Spain, called ”Festival del Pulpo.” What many in the class probably didn’t know at first was that the main dish Spaniards consume during the celebration was octopus. Read more …
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org