Name: Mary Jo Knight

School: St. John the Baptist

Grade: Second grade

Education: Bachelor of science in education from Indiana University and a master’s degree in education with an early-childhood endorsement from IPFW.

Years teaching: 34 years in Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese. Before that, taught in public schools in Fairfax, Va., and in Bloomington.

City born and raised: Fort Wayne

Current hometown: Fort Wayne

Family: I was married for 41 years. My husband is deceased, and I have five children in New York, North Carolina and Europe. I also have six grandchildren.

Last book read: “The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Favorite teacher: Sister Dorothea. I had her in third and eighth grade. She had a great sense of humor yet she kept everything under control. In those days, there were sometimes 40 or more students in our classrooms.

Favorite class in school: My favorite was and is language arts. I’m an avid reader. I especially love children’s picture books. So many of them have rich descriptive language – “juicy words” – and I use them often to teach writing.

Favorite teaching memory: I have many good memories of my years in the classroom. Parents who have told me their child loves to read because of my encouragement and the good stories I read to them make me feel good. My favorite recent memory is of a boy in my class last year who ran up to me and said, “Mrs. Knight, I found a ‘golden line’ in this book.” All year we look for examples of good writing that paint a picture with words and I call them golden lines. He didn’t normally get excited about reading.

What do you enjoy most about teaching in a Catholic school? St. John’s is not only my school, it is also my parish. It is like a second family, and I love sharing my faith with my students. As a second-grade teacher, I am also privileged to prepare the children for the sacraments of reconciliation (confession) and First Communion.

Nominated by: Ann Marie Hall

Reason for nomination: “I had Mrs. Knight for a teacher when I was in third grade and I’ve been privileged to have her teach some of my own children. She is a dedicated teacher and really cares for each and every one of her students. She has 26 students this year with varied learning capabilities. She makes sure the ones who need to be challenged get challenged while not leaving any of those who need extra attention behind. When she retires this year, she deserves to know how she has touched so many parents and children’s lives in the 40 years she has given us.”

– Devon Haynie