Ms. Martin is a dedicated teacher here at Cathedral Prep who has been teaching for 22 years. She majored in psychology with a specialty in toddlers. Ms. Martin has taught classes in the English, Business, and Theology departments. Currently, she teaches classes such as World History, Human Geography, Child Psychology, and General Psychology. While her passion for teaching clearly shows through the level and amount of courses she teaches, it wasn’t her original plan.
“My plan was to be a counselor and a teacher,” Ms. Martin said. “I realized I liked teaching a lot more, so I dropped counseling. My goal was to teach psychology, but to do this, it required to also teach a social studies course. After a few years I started to really love teaching history as well.”
The path to becoming such a knowledgeable and respected teacher wasn’t always the easiest. Ms. Martin shared what moments make all the hard work worthwhile.
“The small things such as Mary’s Day letters from students or when a student goes out of their way to tell me that they’ve actually learned something, that’s what makes it worth it,” Ms. Martin said. “There was a student who really struggled at Villa. She went on to become a physician’s assistant. One day she came back to thank us for getting her through high school. It was really meaningful because I knew she could do it.”
Ms. Martin has had a long and successful career at Villa and Prep. She has always put her best foot forward for the betterment of the school, even during the school consolidation.
“When Villa closed, I had to make a decision,” Ms. Martin said. “I chose to come to Prep because it’s the same type of family mentality that Villa had. I was excited to see what would happen when the two schools came together.”
Through teaching various different types of classes, Ms. Martin gets to see multiple different sides of education. While the content and level of rigor might be different, the best part about teaching remains the same for Ms. Martin.
“The conversations with students who are willing to engage with the material and with other students is my favorite part about teaching,” Ms. Martin said. “It’s exciting to see what they have to say.”
Ms. Martin is a reliable and experienced teacher and role model. Her expertise in many different areas such as psychology, history, and English make her an understanding source of support to any student who needs it.
“The best advice I can give to students is while procrastinating seems like a great idea, try to do a little bit of something every day,” Ms. Martin added. “You will appreciate yourself more for being productive and not waiting until the last minute.”
