Board Member Bios

Home Parish: St. Jude Catholic Church - Peoria, IL

Partner School: St. Jude Catholic School

Family & Background:

I moved to Peoria when I married my husband, Matt, in 2002. I was born in Atlanta, GA and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. I attended St. Mary’s School (now closed) in West Chicago and St. John the Baptist in Winfield for my elementary and middle school education, as well as The Willows Academy high school. The last several years of high school I was homeschooled, graduating in 1991. I went on to attend Christendom College in Front Royal, VA, graduating in 1995 (B.A. History). I have since completed catechist training in Levels I (3 to 6 year old) and II (6 to 9 year old) the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, as well as Montessori teacher training (3 to 6 year old) in January 2020 through the North American Montessori Center (NAMC). I am currently working towards the completion of the Catholic Educator Formation and K - 12 Credential program through the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. 

Matt and I have six daughters, five of whom have graduated thus far from St. Jude School. Our eldest daughter, Margaret, is a senior at St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing. Jessica is a junior at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS where she is studying education and math with the goal of teaching high school math. Catherine, a freshman in college, is pursuing a degree in diagnostic ultrasound sonography. Elizabeth and Susanna are currently a junior and freshman, respectively, at Peoria Notre Dame high school. Monica, our youngest, is in 6th grade at St. Jude School. As a family we enjoy traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada and volunteering at our parish and school. 

Career and Volunteer Affiliations: 

After graduation from Christendom College, I worked for Scholle Corporation, (acquired by SIG), where I served as the product manager for North and South America. I left Scholle to begin working as a real estate advertising representative for the Chicago Tribune. While at the Tribune I served as a volunteer, and eventual crisis pregnancy and post-abortion counselor, at The Women’s Center of greater Chicagoland. Once I married Matt and moved to Peoria, I joined Affina in the HR department and then worked for two local attorneys as we raised and homeschooled our daughters for six years. We enrolled our daughters at St. Jude School in 2014, and I joined the staff at St. Jude in 2018 as a catechist in our CGS program at St. Jude, as well as a part of our PreK team. I currently direct our CGS program at St. Jude School and teach 1st through 4th grades in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. In addition, I am the lead teacher for our PreK4 classroom, and am in my sixth school year in this role. 

My volunteer involvement revolves primarily around supporting our parish and our girls’ schools. I served for four years as the chair of the procurement committee for St. Jude School’s annual Fire & Ice Gala and have served on the gala committee for Peoria Notre Dame, as well as chairing the Catholic Identity Committee for PND’s recent strategic planning initiative. I have served as an adult team member on a recent girls’ TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat and am looking forward to chaperoning the annual March for Life pilgrimage from Peoria Notre Dame to Washington D.C. in January 2025.

Reasons for serving on the FIRE Foundation Board:

As a Catholic school educator and as a mother, I firmly believe in the importance of providing a Catholic education and full inclusion for all students whose parents desire a Catholic education for them. I support the mission and vision of the FIRE Foundation and look forward to supporting the expansion of the breadth of Catholic education to fully include exceptional learners.