Staff Spotlight #16
Library & Tech Dept

Mr. Andy Fisse is the head of our tech department and is a whiz at all things tech! He can help our students with internet connection issues, he can repair broken chromebooks, and he has even helped problem solve SmartBoard issues in the classroom. Mr. Fisse has been our tech guru for 7 years. He is married to Karen and they have 4 children (Dan, Katie, Logan, and Emma) that attend SMS as well. Technology is a great asset to our school and we wouldn't be able to have the access we have if it weren't for Mr. Fisse!

Mr. Ryan Fisse is on his first full year here at SMS, but has helped Mr. Fisse for the previous 4 summers. His knowledge for computers is just as valuable and we are thankful for the assistance he provides to our students and staff in the technology area. He says, "I really enjoy being able to work with computers. It is always what I wanted to do." Mr. Fisse is the son of Mrs. Donna Fisse in the cafeteria!

Mrs. Donna Swinford has been a children’s librarian in public schools for 32 years and a public librarian for 5 years. She's been St Mary’s librarian since the new building was built and have checked the books out since I retired in 2015! Did you know Mrs. Swinford has a special talent of making historical, old time clothes. She takes care of the clothing at our local history museum in Greensburg! She has 5 children, 2 step children, and 7 grandchildren. She loves reading to the students at SMS and helping them find books to spark a love of reading!

Our library and tech department are such blessings to our school. Thank you Mr. Fisse, Mr. Fisse, and Mrs. Swinford for sharing your time, talent, and knowledge with our school. ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #15: Office Staff

Mrs. Lore Oesterling is the smile that greets you when you come to school or the cheerful voice you hear when calling school. She has devoted 14 years to St. Mary's as our beloved secretary. Lore is married to Mark Oesterling (a St. Mary's grad) and together they have a son, Nicholas (also a St. Mary's grad), who is working on his PhD right now at Syracuse University in New York! Mrs. Oesterling enjoys spending time with her immediate and extended family as much as possible and also enjoys gardening, flowers, and decorating at school and at home for each season/holiday! She’s pretty good at it too, the office is always looking festive! Lore says, “I've really enjoyed every minute of being here at St. Mary's. The children are so polite and considerate--they make it exciting to come to work each day!”

This is Mrs. Bri Little’s second time on our Staff Spotlight. You might remember her from our PreK spotlight. When she isn’t working as a PreK assistant, you can find her in the office taking on the role of our school nurse! She is a CNA and is such a kind and friendly face to our students when they visit her in the clinic. She says, “being hurt or sick is never any fun. I enjoy being able to help kids when those times arise.”

We are thankful for these 2 ladies and the cheer they bring to our school. Anyone will tell you, our front office is always so welcome and inviting and it’s largely due to these 2 friendly faces that welcome visitors and students. ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #14
We have 3 amazing resource teachers and specialists in our school.

Mrs. Anna Roberts is in her 6th year of teaching; 3rd here at St. Mary's. She graduated with her Elementary Education degree from Ball State in 2014. Mrs. Roberts is our Math Title 1 educator; she provides extra assistance to those students who need extra support in math. She and her husband have two children; a daughter who just turned 1 in March and a son who just turned 4 this April. Mrs. Roberts loves spending quality time with family and friends.

Mrs. Janet Hagerty is the PreK – Grade 3 Reading Teacher of the St.Mary’s Early Reading Prevention Program. This is her 10th year of providing this service to St.Mary’s School. It requires specialization and advance studies in the development of the five components of reading. She loves to share her knowledge and skills with the teachers. Mrs. Hagerty is known for her passion of teaching reading, bicycling, running, love of history and family. You may have seen her as Eucharistic Minister in church! She has been an EM for more than forty years.

Mrs. Nancy Fogg is our Special Education teacher. She works with students in grades K-8 to provide academic support in both math and reading. She and her husband, William, have 3 children, all of whom graduated from SMS. This is her 1st year in this position at SMS, but she has been a part of our school family for several years as a Kindergarten teacher in the past. Did you know: Mrs. Weigel & Mrs. Brown are former students of hers! Mrs. Fogg loves scrapbooking, cake decorating, and anything crafty!

We are so blessed by the work these 3 ladies do with our students. They really excel in their specialties and we are thankful they share their gifts with our school. ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #13
This dynamic duo takes care of our 5th grade Knights.

Ms. Deb Greiwe has been teaching at SMS for 13 years, starting in Kindergarten and recently moving to 5th grade! Ms. Greiwe is the English Language Arts and Reading teacher for the 5th graders. She loves to share her love of reading with her students. Ms. Greiwe has a daughter, Abby, who is an adult now, but attended SMS as an elementary student! Ms. Greiwe bleeds blue for her Indianapolis Colts! She also enjoys spending time with her family outside of school.

Ms. Marge Bruns has been a teacher for 22 years. Miss Bruns REALLY loves IU. Just ask her, you'll see. Ok, ok, don't do that. She's a Boilermaker through and through, even decorating her classroom in PU flags and black & gold. Did you know, Ms. Bruns is also our Athletic Director? She schedules all the home and away games/meets for our student athletes as well as many other duties that come with the AD title.

We love this set of teachers and are thankful for their teamwork to make our 5th graders succeed! ... See MoreSee Less

Congratulations to St. Mary's School on raising the most money! In total, all schools combined raised $1,440.46 😁🙌🙌♥️ The totals are as follows:
St. Mary's 516.41
North Decatur Elementary 392.70
GCHS 213.18
North Decatur High School 152.58
South Decatur Elementary 90.59
South Decatur High School 20.00
Other venmo 55.00

What an awesome community we have!!! ... See MoreSee Less

Thanks to all of our St. Mary's family for doing your part to help Meals on Wheels!Congratulations to St. Mary's School on raising the most money! In total, all schools combined raised $1,440.46 😁🙌🙌♥️ The totals are as follows:
St. Mary's 516.41
North Decatur Elementary 392.70
GCHS 213.18
North Decatur High School 152.58
South Decatur Elementary 90.59
South Decatur High School 20.00
Other venmo 55.00

What an awesome community we have!!! ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #12
These 2 make a great team in 4th grade!

Mrs. Angie Maloney has 20 years of teaching at St. Mary's under her belt. She's taught a range from 2nd-4th grades! Mrs. Maloney graduated from ISU and obtained her Master's from WGU. She and her husband, Rob, have 3 boys all of whom have attended or graduated from St. Mary's. She loves crafting such as crochet, painting, and drawing. (And she's really good at it too!!!) Do you know which teacher love frogs? It's Mrs. Maloney!

Mrs. Eva Volz has been an educator for 23 years! She and her husband have 6 children. 3 of her children are at St. Marys: 2 as students and 1 as our school nurse! That's right, Mrs. Little is Mrs. Volz's daughter! Mrs. Volz enjoys life on her farm and helping her children with their 4H projects. She also really enjoys loving on and spoiling her granddaughter, Charlie.

These 2 are a great pair in 4th grade and we are so thankful for them! ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #11
Ask any student what their favorite part of the day is... you'll like get "recess!" or "lunch!"
These 5 make lunch so tasty for our students!

Mrs. Donna Fisse is the head of the cafeteria department. She has been here for 9 years! Donna loves spending time with her family, and you'll even see one of her sons on a future Staff Spotlight because he works in our tech department!

Mrs. Nichole Kalinowski has been a big help in the cafeteria for 6 years at SMS! Nichole and her husband, Joe, have 2 daughters: Natalie (high school) & Ashley (7th). Did you know Nichole is originally from Wisconsin? She still has family there and loves to travel and visit them as often as she can.

Mrs. Kimmie Gauck has been at St. Mary's for 2 years. Kimmie is always so bubbly and brings so much happiness to the students as they come through the line. Kimmie and her husband, Steve, run a family business called "Gauck's Meats" and everyone in their family helps! Her son, Christopher (high school) raises chickens for the business and her daughter Addie (high school) raises pigs. Both of her children were SMS students and now attend NDHS.

Mrs. Mandy Richards has helped in the cafeteria for 2 years. Her willingness to lend a hand and help around the school is so appreciated, in and out of the cafeteria. Mandy and her husband, Scott, have 3 children who have attended or are attending SMS: Lauren (high school), Emma (7th), and Chance (5th)

Mrs. Diana Hermesch has been here since 2004. We are sad to announce that Mrs. Hermesch is retiring after this year and we wish her all the best as she gets to spend more time with her grandchildren in her retirement! She says, "I feel like St. Mary's school was where I should be." ... See MoreSee Less

The 7th and 8th grade Academic Team took on a new challenge this year: battling adults in our school, parish, and community. In their first meet, the battle was close, but in the end the team of Mr. Brad Fox, Mr. Ben Schutte, and Mr. Chris Bedel bested our 8th grade team of Sam Tuchmann, Jill Witkemper, Seanna Peetz, and Tam Ngo. Coming in 3rd place was the adult team of Mrs. Suzanne Fox, Mrs. Staci Schutte, and Mrs. Mandy Bedel. Their next meet is tonight at 6 pm vs. some Greensburg community members and former SMS students and parents. Let's go Knights! ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #10
2nd graders are privileged to learn with these 3 ladies.

Mrs. Kathy Murray (not pictured) is a big blessing to St. Mary's as she prepares our sweet 2nd grade students for 2 special sacraments: Reconciliation & First Eucharist. If you've ever been given the privilege of hearing Mrs. Murray teach or speak about our faith, you will understand just how blessed our children are to learn about our faith from her.

Mrs. Mollie Johannigman, known as Mrs. J around SMS, has worn many hats here at school: observing and student teaching for her teaching degree & license; substitute teaching; teachers assistant to name a few, but a good portion of this year has been spent with the 2nd graders while Mrs. Murray was out on medical leave. Mrs. J has been working with children for 13 years; starting out in Early Childhood development as an Early Preschool teacher. She and her husband, Mike, have three children, Maggie (K), Raylan (PreK) and Amelia.

Mrs. Emily Weigel has been teaching for 10 years. This is her 2nd year at St. Mary's. She is the English Language Arts and Reading teacher for 2nd grade. She enjoys cooking, baking, and trying new recipes. She also loves to read when she finds time between teaching and being a mom & wife!

We love this trio and are so thankful for their contributions to our 2nd grade program! ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #9:

These 2 super 6th grade teachers are amazing!

Ms. Trish Witkemper has been here at SMS for 23 years! She wears many hats in the junior high! She is a 6th grade homeroom teacher, but did you know she also teaches an elective course to all junior high students? Her elective is always so interesting, teaching things like button sewing, financial literacy, college and career readiness, employability skills, world languages, and the very popular Knightly News directed by the 8th graders! Trish has 2 children that attend SMS, Jill (8th) and Eric (4th). She is very close to her family and enjoys the time they spend together.

Mr. Rodney Martin has been with St. Mary's for 2 years. He teaches science and PE & health. Rodney and his wife, Kendra, have 4 children: Rhett (high school), Kenlee (high school), Ryker (5th), and Klara (PreK). Rodney loves to spend time with his family and he enjoys all sorts of sports, especially football.

This team is dynamite together and we are so thankful for them! ... See MoreSee Less

*PLEASE SHARE*
Today is the day!
Take the night off and let WENDY'S cook for you!
Be sure to mention you're dining in support of St. Mary's and 20% of your total will be donated to our school! ... See MoreSee Less

Staff Spotlight #8
1st graders have so much fun with this pair of teachers.

Mrs. Jen Blankman is known to her students as "Mrs. B" and she's been a teacher for 24 years; teaching at St. Mary's for 15 of those years. Jen is an active member of our parish's music group; you may see her singing at church occasionally!

Mrs. Staci Schutte has been a teacher for 16 years and has been at St. Mary's for 8 of those years. Mrs. Schutte is known at school for her class pets, hosting guinea pigs, turtles, baby kittens, rabbits, hermit crabs, lizards, hatching ducks & chicks, and probably the students' favorite... our class dogs (Hi, Gus and Gertie Gehrich!)

Jen and Staci both love teaching first grade together and are thankful for the opportunity to share Jesus's love with those sweet kiddos. ... See MoreSee Less

Please share & Mark your calendars!
SMAFA is hosting a Dine to Donate to support our school.
Let Wendy’s do the cooking for you on Thursday May 6.
Just mention the flyer so 20% of your total goes to SMS.
Thank you, SMAFA, for all you do for our school. We are so grateful 💕 ... See MoreSee Less

A beautiful day for First Communion!
God bless all the sweet children that received Jesus for the first time today. ... See MoreSee Less