Teacher Spotlight: Catherine Wilson
Get to know Catherine Wilson, the preschool director and VPK B teacher at St. Anthony Catholic School, and learn about her passion for working in education.What did you want to be when you were little?I wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse! I grew up in a family with 8 kids, and I was right in the middle, so I was always around babies and helped take care of them because my mom had the first 5 of us pretty quick. As my older siblings grew up, they had babies that I helped with too. I thought [working as a nurse] was something I wanted to do, but when I got to my biology class in high school, they brought out a frog for us to dissect and I got weak knees at the sight of the blood and just passed out! So I knew that wasn’t the track for me.Tell us about your journey to becoming a teacher.When I found out I didn’t like biology, I thought the next best career would be to become a teacher like my mother. I always knew I wanted a family, and to be able to spend vacation time with them has been a true blessing. My husband was a ringmaster for many years, so our two boys and I traveled the country with him for about seven years. We would finish school at the end of May and come back at the end of July to get ready for the new school year! The vacations were so memorable; they were all in the truck with the trailer. I think going to New York City was one of the most memorable.How do you engage your students in the learning experience?I try each day to be enthusiastic and challenge the students with thought-provoking questions. I encourage independence and make them feel like big kids. My favorite concept to teach is math! I like watching them get the patterns, figuring out what numbers come next, and handling double-digit addition, and I love when I see that joy and light in their face. They learn letters and sounds in Language Arts, but it takes them more of the year, but they pick up the math and counting so much quicker.What’s your favorite thing about teaching VPK?My favorite thing is how loving and excited the children are each day. At this age, they still have such a love of school. They come in and they’re hugging each other, and they’re so excited to see us, and we hear, “I missed you when I went home!” They draw us pictures — I get a picture every day. And while a lot of it is that age, it’s also that we spend so much time with them that we become that consistent person in their life. You see such growth in this age! They’re so happy to be here, and that’s really rewarding to me.What do you enjoy about teaching at St. Anthony Catholic School?The comradery among the staff. This school family will do anything [for each other,] and we all have each other’s backs. What do you hope students take away from being in your classroom?A love of learning and to be kind to one another.
Get to Know Catherine Wilson
Q: Where did you grow up?A: I grew up in Roselle, Illinois.Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?A: Unlimited energy!Q: Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?A: My favorite TV show is NCIS.Q: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?A: Yogurt.Q: What’s your favorite book?A: It’s a children’s book called “Chrysanthemum.”At private schools in Polk County, FL, we foster an atmosphere of care and an environment of high expectations and effective discipline. To learn more about what makes us different, contact us at 407-246-4800.