By Kaitlin Longhauser
St. Mary’s Catholic School in Caledonia, Minn., gladly welcomes two new teachers, Emily Petska and Ethan Papenfuss, to the team.
Emily Petska joins the St. Mary’s family as the parochial school’s third grade teacher for the 2022-2023 school year. Petska will teach her students all general subjects such as mathematics, reading, science, social studies, etc. This will be Petska’s first year teaching, she is excited to work with the Caledonia community.
Petska chose St. Mary’s Catholic School in Caledonia due to her upbringing with church, Caledonia’s family-like community, and smaller class sizes. In a smaller sized class there are more opportunities for teachers to get to know their students individually. In a smaller sized class, everyone is recognized as an individual instead of being just a face in the crowd.
This third grade teacher’s favorite thing about the current school year is the opportunities available for students and how involved students are. She appreciates the level of involvement students partake with mass. She feels her students not only learn from her, but she gets the privilege of learning from them as well. She states the atmosphere to be “we’re all in this together.”
Petska wants her students to develop a lifelong love of learning and to enjoy school overall. She wants her students to take away life skills they can use in higher grades and even the workforce. Petska hopes to show her students it is okay to make mistakes and that making mistakes is how we grow and learn.
Petska was born and raised in Eau Claire, Wis. Her interest in education stemmed from her childhood involvement with her church’s Catholic based education. Petska always enjoyed working with children, especially lower elementary aged children. She attended Winona State University and currently resides in Winona, Minn., with her husband. When Petska is not busy teaching, she can be found enjoying outdoor activities such as kayaking and camping. She can also be found crafting, or spending time with family and friends.
Ethan Papenfuss joins the St. Mary’s family as the parochial school’s new music teacher for the 2022-2023 school year. Papenfuss will teach music to students from preschool through eighth grade. This will be Papenfuss’s first year teaching. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Caledonia community and share his love of music with children.
Papenfuss chose to teach at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Caledonia due to his nearby residence and desire to work in a familiar smaller educational setting. Similar to Petska, Papenfuss appreciates smaller class sizes in where teachers have the opportunity to get to know students as individuals.
Papenfuss stated his favorite thing about the current school year is ‘The students and their overall eagerness for music.’ He looks forward to watching students grow academically and musically.
This music teacher wants his students to always strive to be apart of something. Papenfuss feels students learn such through music due to everyone having the chance to contribute to a given song piece. If a few students do not contribute to a given piece, then the piece cannot come together thus their contribution is of great importance.
Papenfuss is from the Houston area and currently resides in Sheldon, just outside Caledonia. He actively participated with band during his youth and fell in love with music. He stated, “I’ve always had great experiences with band and music,” thus inspiring him to pursue music education. In the past he has assisted his church in directing children’s Christmas music performances. Papenfuss greatly enjoyed his student teaching experience in college working with both elementary and high school aged students in the area of music. When Papenfuss is not busy with teaching, he can be found participating in outdoor activities such as hiking, farm work, or woodworking.
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