This fall, the Saint Viator community welcomed Mrs. Donna Williams to the third floor. Mrs. Williams is working in the absence of Mrs. Erica Fuja in the Scanlan Center during her maternity leave.

Mrs. Williams attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. With 30 years of teaching experience, Mrs. Williams has previously worked at Glenbrook South High School in the special education department and has taught at Northwestern for a year.

Mrs. Williams credits her faith for shaping her as not only a teacher, but a person and parent.

“My faith has had a strong influence in shaping me as a person, a teacher and a parent,” said Mrs. Williams. “I try to live out the gospel values in what I do everyday as a person and as a teacher.”

Mrs. Williams noticed a large positive difference between Saint Viator students and other students she has taught.

“The Christian mission and values, the emphasis on service and just the feeling, the welcoming feeling, the community feeling that are lived out here is one major difference,” said Mrs.  Williams.

Not only does the community differentiate Saint Viator from other schools, but the behavior and attitude of the students surprised Mrs. Williams.

“One thing that surprised me was the politeness of the students. Some days students will walk and say thank you to me after a lesson,” said Mrs. Williams.

Mrs. Williams has two daughters: Laura, who graduated from Saint Viator in 2005, and Kathryn, who currently attends Saint Viator and is in her sophomore year.

“Primarily, we wanted them to continue to grow and develop in their faith, and we wanted them to be in an environment—a learning environment—that supported the values we had as parents,” said Mrs. Williams. “It also is an awesome school academically and there are so many neat co-curricular activities they can be involved in.”

Mrs. Williams’s experience as a parent and now a teacher at Saint Viator leaves her with the sense of community found at Saint Viator. In return, she wants to leave her students with a toolbox of strategies that will lead to their success not only in high school, but in life, too.