News & Updates
IHM Sister Honored for 55 Years of Teaching
Excerpted from the Catholic Standard, 9/16/2024, by Catherine Buckler
Sister Doreen Willis, at center in back, is joined by her kindergarten students at St. John the Evangelist School in Silver Spring and by Father Joseph Calis, St. John’s pastor, and by Shindana Crawford, the school’s principal, after a September 6 Mass where the Immaculate Heart of Mary sister was honored for her 55 years of service as a Catholic school teacher. When asked about retirement, Sister Doreen said, “That would happen sometime for her, but that ‘age is a state of mind.’” As for advice to aspiring teachers, she said, “There are a few things she has learned in her experience of over half a century. “You really have to be dedicated to it. I think you have to love it. You have to be patient, and you have to be kind and loving… and have a sense of humor and be flexible. You have to be able to laugh at yourself, and just kind of go with the flow.”