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St. Patrick School is experiencing a mini baby boom with two teachers expecting new additions to their families in 2021. Fourth grade teacher Mrs. Hannah Ward will be having her first child while our math specialist, Mrs. Erica Albert, will be welcoming twins later this year.
These are exciting times for both the Ward and Albert families and will also mean some changes in our teacher line-up this fall. Mrs. Albert will be home with her twins after their birth while Mrs. Ward will move into the math specialist position.
That leaves an opening in our fourth grade classroom, but we have fortunately found an excellent teacher for that spot. Starting in the fall, Mrs. Tara Pigorsh will be our fourth grade teacher and also teach English language arts to the fifth grade.
Lifelong Love of Teaching
Growing up in Belding, Tara can’t ever remember a time when she wasn’t enthralled with the idea of teaching. “I had a pretend classroom in the basement when I was little,” she recalls.
She attended St. Joseph School in Belding and then earned her degree from Aquinas College. Previously, Tara taught fourth and fifth grades at St. Charles School in Greenville. For her, teaching in a Catholic school is a wonderful opportunity to share her faith with her students and be able to discuss religion in the classroom.
Beyond that, Tara finds it a joy to be able to create a lesson and watch it engage students. “I love to see the spark in the kids,” she explains. Those lightbulb moments are some of the best experiences in the classroom.
Embracing Catholic Education for All
Tara and her husband Dan adopted their older children from South Korea, and today, Luke is 16 and Anna is 13. Then, the family got a welcome surprise with the addition of Sam. Now 5, Sam has Down Syndrome, and Tara has devoted herself to his care in recent years.
However, Sam will be entering developmental kindergarten at St. Patrick School this fall, and Tara is ready to return to the classroom as well. Being able to enroll Sam in a Catholic school is something she wasn’t sure could happen until recently either. It wasn’t until she read an article about another family’s experience enrolling their son with Down Syndrome at a Catholic school that it felt like a real possibility.
“I feel like it was God’s hand leading the way,” Tara says. She is excited that both she and Sam will be together at St. Patrick School in the fall. “This is where I want to be and where I want Sam to be,” she says.
We are excited to welcome both Tara and Sam to our school community. We can’t wait for parents and students to get to know Mrs. Pigorsh.
