Welcome! My name is Kerry Hoisington and I am a first grade teacher here at St. Mary’s. This will be my eighth year here at the school. I started out as the junior high language arts teacher then made my way down to the first grade where I have spent the last seven years.

I am a graduate of St. Mary Magdalene where I learned the importance of a Catholic education and the inherent value in being a parochial teacher. From SMS, I moved on to Gilmour Academy where I was not only an honor student but a successful athlete. I lettered in three varsity sports (cross country, basketball, and track) all four years of high school and made the dean’s list several times as well. I was very fortunate to have a wonderful mentor in my cross country and track coach that taught me the value of hard work and determination on and off the field. It was because of his example that I decided that I wanted to be a teacher and coach one day too. I was a high school basketball coach at one time and look forward to doing that again sometime in the near future.

After high school I moved on to Hiram College where I quickly decided to double major in education and history along with a reading endorsement. I was blessed to have wonderful instructors at Hiram who took an active interest in me as a student and a person. I continued my athletic pursuits on the collegiate level in all three sports and learned many life lessons in the process. I was able to travel a great deal in my experiences at Hiram and got a great foundation for my life as a classroom teacher. Of course, there are no lessons like the ones you get once you are thrown into the fire.

I am the director of the after school program here at St. Mary’s on top of being a teacher. You can find me here most days until 6:00 so if the need ever arises for something after the school day is over don’t hesitate to ask. Should you have any questions about the Fun Club program please feel free to ask me. The program has grown by leaps and bounds since I started as the director seven years ago and continues to improve each year.

When I do get some free time to myself I enjoy scrapbooking, reading, golf, movies, music, and spending time with my children-the four legged kind that is. I have two cats, a dog, and a rat. The rat (a.k.a. Tomu) will be making an appearance at school this year and may become our class pet if all goes well.

As a teacher, I have many goals for each of my students. First and foremost, I want each child to feel comfortable in their surroundings. I try to make my classroom as vibrant a place to learn as possible. I never want any child to feel a sense of failure. As children grow up in today’s society, they are surrounded my negatives and I hope that their time in my classroom is a positive one. I want each student to leave each day with a sense of accomplishment and pride in doing their best. I am not perfect and I certainly don’t expect my students to be either. We have our shortcomings and downfalls, but I think each day is a new start and a way for us to turn these negatives around.

I am looking forward to working with each of your children this year. I know that if we all work together this is going to be a very successful year.