The Blanchet community welcomes a new substitute English teacher, Ms. Courtney Caldwell, as Ms. Jen Shapiro goes on leave to spend time with her new born baby.

Caldwell will be taking on the role of English teacher for the rest of the semester, and the students are all very excited to get to know her. Caldwell is the former Vice Principal of Academics at Eastside Catholic. After that she worked with the Archdiocese, consulting on curriculum development, and was a sub at several Catholic Schools. She has a lot of prior teaching experience, but is excited to get to know Blanchet.

“BBHS was my favorite [school to sub at]” said Caldwell, “I have been teaching for a pretty long time, so I don’t get as nervous as I used to, but I want to make sure I do a great job for my students.”

Caldwell also did a fare amount of  traveling to places such as Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Oman, and United Arab Emirates. She also taught in South Korea prior to working at Eastside. Even with all of these amazing life experiences, coming to a new place is nerve racking, but the Blanchet Community has ensured Caldwell has had a smooth transition.

“People have been so welcoming and my students have been so patient with me as figure out all of the systems, traditions, schedule, and expectations at a new school.” said Caldwell, “I’m very grateful to the English teachers in particular for answering all my questions, and to the rest of the faculty and staff for checking in with me to make sure I am not losing my mind.”

Dealing with teenagers can be a high stress, complicated job. Although the students are Caldwell’s favorite part about being a teacher, even though they can be at times difficult.

“I love teenagers” said Caldwell, “there is something magical about the intelligence, hopefulness, and sassiness of teenagers. They make me laugh, even when they are driving me crazy.”

Caldwell and the Blanchet students are excited about what this semester has in store, after a great first few weeks. Ms. Caldwell is looking ford to getting to know more students and teachers, getting to know students, and praying with them at retreats.

“I look forward to celebrating my seniors as they make tough decision about what’s next after high school” said Caldwell, “working with my sophomores to encourage them to love literature, and getting to know my 9th grade CP.”

If you want to get to know Caldwell, she can be found in room 305 (Ms. Shapiro’s Room) for the remainder of the semester.