One of Rosary Academy’s distinct traits is its teachers that genuinely care about their students’ learning and success.

Isabelle Brookshire ’22 and I spoke to a handful of Rosary students to see a few teachers and classes they appreciated and why.

Starting from the beginning, we spoke to freshman Rebecca Nassar. She said, “So far, my favorite class has been Honors English I with Mr. Bevins. Mr. Bevins is truly an amazing teacher, and I always enjoy walking into his classroom to see what new topic we will be discussing that day. Mr. Bevins sheds light on topics in a way I didn’t think possible.”

Next, we spoke to sophomore Mia Kennedy, who provided a more scientific approach. Mia is fond of chemistry, and she said, “One of my favorite classes has to be chemistry with Mrs. Hunt! I was already super excited to take chemistry this year, and a lot of the content we do is challenging enough to the point where I’m not sitting there bored, but not so hard that I get super frustrated. I also like the amount of independent work we get to do while still being able to ask questions if needed, as it makes it more special when you finally get that ‘aha!’ moment. It’s gotten to the point where I’m considering majoring in chemistry for college, so that’s always fun!”

We also wanted to see multiple senior perspectives, as they are the ones that have taken four years of Rosary classes.

Isabelle Brookshire ’22 first gave her own perspective on a language class, saying, “Dr. Villaseñor (Dr. V) has been such a great teacher from the very start. I’ve never been truly interested in learning languages until taking Dr. V’s French classes. Her classes are a perfect mix of fun and interesting activities and engaging dialogue. Learning is presented in a fast enough pace that it remains captivating but slow enough for students to understand the content. Culture, art, and life are all brought into this class, which take us further into both French culture and teach lessons we can take with us into the future. Dr. V comes up with creative solutions, is incredibly organized, is extremely patient, and is a super fun and engaging teacher!”

Dr. V also teaches AP European History to the sophomores. Irene Fernandez ’22 spoke about her love for her class: “I especially enjoyed Dr. V’s AP European History Class. To this day, it’s one of my favorite classes. It enjoyed the content of it, and I also thought that the assignments she would give were interesting. While it can be a lot of reading, I found it super interesting and liked learning about all the different time periods. I like history a lot, but the way that the class was structured in terms of reading and lectures made it easy for me to still be able to retrieve history facts. I took the class sophomore year, but I still remember that it was collaborative with group assignment and presentations. Dr. V is well-versed in the world, and she brings this knowledge with her during her class, so it’s always interesting.”

Irene also spoke about her favorite language class: “Another one of my favorite classes has been AP Spanish Language and Culture with Señora Kam. I liked how she structured the class in that we would learn about noticias (news) in Latin America. Each day I had that class, I always learned something new. I think Señora Kam structures the class to prepare you really well for the AP exam. She provides a lot of practice for writing the essays, email, and the speaking portion of the AP exam. The presentations, noticias, and a lot of what you discuss in class prepare you for the speaking and writing portions where you get a random topic and have to use your knowledge about the Spanish language and culture to answer. There’s a lot to learn and Senora Kam is really passionate about teaching.”

Katie Thomas ’22 said, “Mr. Rodriguez literally knows everything there is to know about music. While he specializes in classical guitar, I’m convinced you could stick any instrument in front of him and he would know how to play it. Not to mention, he really cares about his students. I took choir for two years (which was fantastic) but my favorite class ever has to be the one where he sat us all down and genuinely asked us what we were passionate about. He then told us to turn that into action and to take the next step and figure out how we would do that with our lives. That was probably the first time I’d ever thought about what I actually truly wanted to do with my life, and I’m so grateful he gave us the space to talk about our dreams with him.”

Elena Walz ’22 said, “AP Calculus AB is probably one of my favorite classes, and a big part of that is Mrs. Davidson’s teaching. It’s succinct, easy to follow, and when I go home, I can apply it to complicated homework problems.”

Meanwhile, Mary Nassar ’22 spoke about her love for the English department teachers: “Every single class I’ve taken in the English department has been one of the highlights of my high school experiences. Mr. Bevins and Ms. Barclay ’94 have pushed me to become a better writer a more informed reader and observer of the world. Journalism with Ms. Barclay has also been a favorite of mine because some of my closest friends are in that class, so we have a lot of fun enjoying each other’s company.”

These teachers were just a handful of the dedicated Rosary teachers that work here on campus, and there are a number of teachers beyond those mentioned that are excellent at doing what they do. And from the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank our teachers for being committed to teaching.