Board Member Bios

Home Parish: Holy Cross - Champaign, IL

Partner School: The High School of St. Thomas More

Family & Background:

I am a native of Peoria, Il, graduating from Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute in 1979.  I have four adult children, two sons and two daughters.  My sons and their families live here in the Champaign area, and I have one daughter in the Kansas City area and the other in the Rock Island.  All four of my grandchildren live in the Champaign area, much to my delight.

Teaching History:

Although I was raised Catholic and educated in Catholic schools, I left the Church at 20, practicing as an Evangelical Christian until my return to the Church in 1999.  Upon my return, I began discovering all the beauty and richness of the teachings and the sacraments and felt called to return to school in order to become a high school theology teacher.  Upon graduation from Bradley University, I joined the faculty of Peoria Notre Dame High School in January of 2007, teaching theology and a few English courses. I left PND in June of 2017 to move to Champaign, and I joined the faculty of The High School of Saint Thomas More in January of 2021.

Education:

I earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education from Bradley University in Peoria, IL.  I have a number of graduate credits towards a Master of Catechetics and Evangelization from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and I completed the University of Notre Dame ACE English as a New Language program in 2017.

Reasons for serving on the FIRE Foundation Board:

As a mother and grandmother of children and grandchildren with diverse learning needs, as a Catholic who believes strongly in the social teachings of the Church, and as an educator who has worked with a wide variety of students, I am committed to belief that Catholic schools can and should be able and willing to educate any student whose family desires a Catholic education for their child. We can do this with excellence, helping every student reach his or her fullest potential in all dimensions of their personhood.