School News

St. Mark's Cathedral School is pleased to welcome our new faculty members and several returning faculty who are taking on new roles for the 2024-2025 year.

Maddie Bodden - 5th-6th Grade Science
Maddie Bodden has her Certificate in Catholic School Administration from Loyola Marymount University, a Masters in Education for Curriculum and Instruction and Bachelors in Elementary Education from Louisiana Tech, and is certified in Special Education, Early Childhood, and as a reading specialist. She has been teaching at the elementary level for four years. Her favorite part about being a teacher is getting to know her students' various learning styles and differentiating instruction to meet their needs. She loves finding ways to incorporate fun and engaging cross-curricular activities into lessons and seeing the kids excited about what they are learning! Fun fact: She started taking guitar lessons this year and is currently playing a honey-blonde Fender Telecaster.

Kristen Dennis - Preschool Director
Kristen Dennis has her B.A. in Early Childhood & Elementary Education from Louisiana College and M.Ed in Educational Leadership from LSU Shreveport. She has been an educator for more than 20 years. For Kristen, it's actually not about the academics, not entirely anyway. Quite simply, she wants to help raise kind and compassionate people, good humans, to send into the world. Plus, for Kristen, kids are a blast to be around! When not at St. Mark’s, you can find her spending time with family near and far, loving on Walcott, her Westie, traveling (she loves a good road trip), seeing concerts, and reading. Fun fact: She was an avid fan of the Smithsonian Zoo pandas and was devastated when they were taken back to China late last year. She secretly watched the panda cams more than she cares to admit.

Catherine Guidry - Preschool 3 Teaching Assistant
Catherine Guidry has her Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Bachelors of Arts in English from Louisiana State University. She has been a substitute teacher at St. Mark's for two years including working as a long-term substitute last year. She absolutely loves being around children, especially the preschool-aged kids. They are so curious and sweet and are always willing to learn! She enjoys running, reading, traveling, attending LSU sports, and being with her family. Fun fact: She grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ann Hearne - Director of Development
Ann Hearne earned a B.A. in History at LSU-Baton Rouge and an Elementary Education Certification at LSU-Shreveport. Before working in development, she taught Pre-K and 2nd grade for three years. She loved her time as a teacher and now has found fulfillment on the administrative side supporting the growth and development of organizations, now in particular St. Mark's! When not raising funds, she loves being back in Shreveport catching up with family and friends. Fun fact: She used to attend St. Mark's! She is thrilled to be back in her hometown working for her previous school. Ann knows that St. Mark's laid an excellent educational foundation for her, and she is excited to work for a school that will do the same for current and future students.

Rachel McNerney - 6th-8th Grade Math
Rachel McNerney has her B.A. from the University of New Mexico in Philosophy and Languages and an MAT from Centenary College. She is also Math Certified grades 6-12. She has been teaching middle school math for four years and has also taught French. She enjoys teaching because she loves knowing that her work is helping the next generation. When not teaching, she likes to read, crochet, and bake. Fun fact: She has written and published three children's books about math. The series is called Math Is Nuts.

Emily McPeters - Preschool 3 Lead Teacher
Emily McPeters earned her Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Louisiana Tech University. She is starting her third year at St. Mark’s and first as a PS3 Lead Teacher. Emily began as a substitute for St. Mark's, then a PS3 Teaching Assistant,  and PS4 Teaching Assistant. She loves that, even with routines and schedules, every day is different, exciting and a chance to learn something new. She enjoys dinners and movie nights with her family, finding ways to be creative, walking, perusing the bookshelves at Barnes and Noble, and reading. Fun fact: She loves live music and seeing Rod Stewart in concert was a bucket list experience!

Xavier Orellana - 4th-8th Grade Spanish
Francisco Xavier Orellana has his Master of Science in Fisheries from LSU with emphasis in Aquaculture. He has been in education approximately four years. As a college professor in Ecuador, he taught Biology for one semester. Then in Louisiana, he started as a substitute teacher and later as teacher of record in Spanish in Bossier Parish. His desire is to teach children a new language in hopes of them becoming great professionals and embrace the culture from other Spanish-speaking countries. Besides spending time with his family, he enjoys traveling, playing drums (not professionally by any means), and going on short bike-rides with his wife and kids. Fun fact: He met Geddy Lee, lead singer for the Canadian prog-rock group RUSH in Atlanta, GA, and got to talk about the Galapagos Islands since both of them have toured the islands. He also met Alex Gonzalez, the drummer for the Mexican pop-rock group MANÁ at a Guitar Center in Arlington, TX. MANÁ became famous all over Latin America after playing for the first time to an audience of 15,000 people in Ecuador.

Suzan Patel - Preschool 4 Teaching Assistant
Suzan Patel earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She spent last year as a substitute teacher for all divisions. After her second child started at St. Mark’s, she came to realize that she wants to be at St. Mark’s everyday just as much as her children want to. She became a substitute teacher and fell in love with every aspect of being in education. She loves making a difference and teaching the children of our future. Her time away from school is spent with her family and friends. She loves to cook and try new food. She and her husband enjoy traveling. She also loves to read in her spare time! Fun fact: She is bilingual and part of a culture that is vibrant with beautiful cultural traditions.

Annie Quebedeaux - Preschool 2 Teaching Assistant
Annie Quebedeaux has her Bachelors in Mass Communications from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This is her first year teaching. She is thrilled to be working with preschool-aged students and looks forward to helping them learn and grow. When she is not in the classroom, Annie loves to play pickleball. Fun fact: She ran her first half marathon last January!

Chelsea Woodham - 4th Grade Teacher
Chelsea Woodham earned her Masters in Elementary Ed at Western Governors University and her BFA in Film and Television with a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies at NYU-Tisch. Prior to being here, she taught first grade. She loves being able to create an environment that fosters creativity and collaboration. For Chelsea, teaching is all about relationships, and she loves that the classroom becomes a space where students feel comfortable asking questions, being silly, and persisting. She also loves that no two days are the same! She loves cooking, reading, watching the Seattle Mariners, and doing NY Times crosswords, but with young children she does those in between dancing to the Paw Patrol theme song and making up new lines for "Down by the Bay." Fun fact: She was an intern for Late Night w/ Seth Meyers.

Kris Wooster - 7th-8th Grade Science
Kris Wooster has a Bachelors of Science of Education and Associates in Allied Healthcare from Wayland Baptist University. Kris was a nursing and EMT instructor in the Air Force for seven years. He is excited to return to teaching, as he is passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of his students. When not teaching science, Kris loves being outdoors and drawing. Fun fact: Kris once owned a waterbed, but he put a nail in it causing it to explode and send all of his furniture floating out the door.

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We also have some other personnel information that you may find helpful.

Jamie Chapman will continue to teach music, lead the choir, and direct the 5th grade play. She has also added 6th grade Social Studies and is now our Coordinator of Student Life and Summer Programming.

Diane Woodward has added the kindergarten to her music classes.

Nicole Lowe returns to the Little School, after long-term subbing last year, as the Preschool 2 Teaching Assistant for the Cheery Chicks.

Lulu Stringer has graciously agreed to be Evie Schonfarber’s long-term substitute while Evie is on maternity leave.

Amye Wilson has graciously agreed to be Catherine Humphrey’s long-term substitute while Catherine is on maternity leave.

We are grateful for all of these august people.