On Christmas Day, Catholic education lost a devoted teacher. Though I hadn’t heard of Mary Lou Green before this news story, she sounds like a wonderful person and a true blessing to Nebraska’s St. Isidore Catholic School. A few highlights:
In 1964, she became one of the first teachers, and the only lay teacher, at the new St. Isidore school. She spent the next 45 years there and retired in 2009.
Teacher Kristi Bruns worked 24 years at St. Isidore with Green, and said Green taught through example.
“She was extremely dedicated. She put her whole heart and soul into teaching. Her life was her students. She loved watching them succeed. She had compassion for kids, not just in education, but for them as people,” Bruns said.
One of the programs Green initiated at St. Isidore in 1981 was History Day. Many of her students over the years won state competitions and qualified for nationals through the program.
Read more about her life here.