Ms. Marie Dowd is one of the eight English teachers at Saint Viator, two of whom are new this year. She teaches three English classes, two for juniors, one for seniors and also teaches communication skills. Ms. Dowd has received a bachelor’s degree of science in secondary education at University of Kansas.

The classes that Ms. Dowd teaches for juniors are American Literature and Modern World Literature. Seniors take Modern World Literature as well and also have the opportunity to take Communication Skills, a class where they have the opportunity to learn “about interpersonal communications and how to write and deliver speeches,” said Ms. Dowd.

“Right now we are reading Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust,” said Ms. Dowd.

Ms. Dowd decided to become a high school English teacher because she loved English in her college years, and she had always wanted to teach younger kids. Many of her high school teachers inspired her to become a high school teacher herself.

“They were all fantastic teachers and were very engaged in social efforts,” said Ms. Dowd.

Before teaching at Saint Viator, Ms. Dowd taught for several years at Fremd High School. When Ms. Dowd saw the job opening at Saint Viator, she chose to apply because it was one of the first places to come up and she already knew it was a great school. She was partially familiar with the school’s name and the school itself because her best friend attended Saint Viator along with several other extended family members.