Saint Brigid Catholic School
130 W. Larkin
Midland, MI 48640
Teaching Staff | Office Staff | Support Staff
Maureen is originally from Yankton, South Dakota. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Dakota in Elementary Education with minors in Library Science and Early Childhood Education. Mark and Maureen moved to Midland in 1983. Mark & Maureen are the parents of Matt (Emily), Eric (Erica) and Jonathan.
She started teaching at Saint Brigid Catholic School in the fall of 1990 as the fourth grade teacher and continued teaching full time until 1999. She became a part time teacher, teaching the Junior Science program and the school librarian. In 2002, she received the American Chemical Society’s Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Elementary Level Science Education”.
She has been Principal since 2004. She currently sits on the Education Formation Commission, School Committee and PTO.
Maureen and her family have been actively involved in Saint Brigid Parish in many ways through the years. Currently, she is a lector and Eucharistic Minister.
Saint Brigid Catholic School is a sparkling reminder of the parish’s life blood—its children
Kathleen has worked at Saint Brigid School since 2005. Kathleen and her husband, Robert, have 3 boys, Brad, Tom and Vincent. Brad and Tom are married and have given us 4 beautiful grandchildren. Vincent is a 5th grade student here. Kathleen has been an aide in the After School program and is currently working as the paraprofessional for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.
Marge was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Marge attended 12 years of Catholic education at St. David’s Catholic School in Detroit, MI. She earned a medical assistant certificate from Carnegie Institute. While living in Detroit, Marge was on the staff of Saint John’s Hospital as a phlebotomist. She moved to Midland in 1990 with her husband, Ed and their sons, Timothy and Patrick. She has worked as the Saint Brigid school secretary since 1993.
Marty Beard has been the first grade teacher at Saint Brigid Catholic School since September, 2004. Marty previously taught fourth grade at the school from 1983-1986.
After teaching 3 years (1986-1989) in a Chapter I Reading program in Mt. Pleasant public schools, Marty joined her husband, Todd, on an overseas assignment with the Dow Chemical Company in Seoul, South Korea and Bangkok, Thailand from 1990-1993. While in Thailand, Marty served on the Board of Directors for Community Services of Bangkok (C.S.B.), a foreigners’ service agency, as their director of children’s programming.
After several years at home with their children, Marty returned to teaching in 2001 as an aide for the three year old class and the teacher of the two year old class at St. John’s Episcopal Preschool. She came to Saint Brigid School from that position in 2004.
Marty has a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from ShepherdUniversity in Shepherdstown, W. Va., which is her home state. She has completed 26 hours of graduate studies at CMU with an emphasis in reading.
Marty, Todd, and their three children, Peter, Philip, and Rachel are long-time members of the parish. Marty and Todd are active in parish life having served as Eucharistic ministers, faith formation instructors, and on various committees over the years.
Nancy Cossin is originally from the Detroit area. She moved in the Midland area with her husband, Chris and 2 daughters, in 2005. Nancy belongs to Holy Trinity Church in Bay City where she is actively involved with parish activities.
Nancy has been teaching for 20 years, all of which have been in Catholic Schools. She has been the fourth grade teacher at Saint Brigid School since 2006. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in Special Education. Her experience includes teaching 4th, 5th and 6th grades as well as being the Resource Room teacher for grades K-8. Nancy enjoys reading and spending time with her family.
Susie has been the Kindergarten teacher at Saint Brigid Catholic School since the 2001 school year. Susie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from PurdueUniversity in 1986. Her first teaching job was head teacher in the three-year-old class at the Y.M.C.A. in Indianapolis. After moving to Midland in 1988, she taught Kindergarten at Siebert Elementary until 1994. The birth of her second child found her choosing to become a stay at home mom for the next six years. During this time, Susie was able to continue to work with children. She did day care for three families while living in Saint Louis, Missouri. After returning to Midland, Susie worked at Saint John’s Episcopal Cooperative Preschool as a teacher’s assistant until coming to Saint Brigid Catholic School in 2001.
Susie received eighteen credit hours of graduate instruction from SaginawValleyStateUniversity in the areas of reading and early childhood development. She continues to take continuing education to stay current with the best educational practices. Susie enjoys camping and fishing with her family. This combined with teaching makes for a full and rewarding life.
Shawn Marks is a native of Michigan who has resided in Midland since 1980. She earned her teaching degree from Eastern Michigan University and later went on to continue her graduate studies at Central Michigan University. While Shawn began her teaching career in Bay City’s Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary, she found a position closer to home only one year later when she was hired as the 4th grade teacher at Saint Brigid Catholic School in Midland.
Shawn taught 4th grade for a total of 11 years, though not consecutively. Choosing to take time off to raise her family, she left the full-time classroom, but continued to work at Saint Brigid’s Parish in two part-time capacities: High School Youth Minister and Coordinator/Teacher for the Junior Science after school program. In 1999, Shawn returned to full-time teaching again in 4th grade. In the spring of 2006, Shawn chose to take on the challenge of helping with the reestablishment of the Saint Brigid Catholic School 6th grade. In addition to being the sixth grade homeroom teacher, Shawn also teaches language arts to the 7th and 8th graders.
Faith and family are central to Shawn’s life. All four of Shawn and her husband, Russ’, children have attended Saint Brigid Catholic School, two of whom were students in their mother’s classroom.
Sherri Nemeth is a native of Michigan who has resided in Midland since 1986. She earned her Bachelor of business Administration from Northwood University and after many years in the business field decided to continue her education. She then earned her Elementary Education Certification with endorsements in math and science from Saginaw Valley State University. She has since earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching as a Reading Specialist from Saginaw Valley State University.
Sherri taught preschool for 2.5 years and then began her career at Saint Brigid Catholic School. She taught Junior Science for one year and then became the Reading Specialist. After two years, yet another opportunity arose, and she began teaching the 2nd grade at Saint Brigid Catholic School.
Sherri, her husband, and two children are members of Saint Brigid Catholic Church. She has also taught Faith Formation in Kindergarten.
Fran Pollock and her husband, Mark, were born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from McMaster University, and a Bachelor of Education degree from Brock University, both in Ontario. Fran has since completed thirty-three graduate credit hours from SVSU with a focus on reading.
Fran taught for seven years with the Hamilton Roman Catholic Separate School Board before moving to the United States. During this time she taught grades six and seven as well as French for grades five through eight. While her two daughters were young, Fran substitute taught for ten years in both the Midland Public Schools as well as in area Catholic schools.
Fran returned to full-time teaching at St. Ann’s Catholic School in Linwood for three years where she taught fifth grade. Fran moved to St. Brigid Catholic School in 2002 where she continues to teach Third Grade.
Fran and her family are currently members of Assumption Parish in Larkin Township where she has also been actively involved in the religious education program and other parish activities for several years.
Deb has been the fifth grade teacher at Saint Brigid Catholic School since 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in the Language Arts from Eastern Michigan University. She has continued her studies earning forty-six hours in graduate work at Saginaw Valley State University. Her teaching career began soon after graduation when she was hired to teach fourth grade in the Romulus Community Schools in Romulus, Michigan. After moving to Midland, she began substitute teaching in Midland as well as the surrounding school districts. In 1995, she decided to join the Saginaw Diocese to teach third and fourth grade at Immaculate Conception School in St. Charles, Michigan.
During this time, Deb was also raising a family that she is very proud of. Much time was spent on various boards of organizations that were important to her children. As a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish, she taught in the Faith Formation Program for ten years. Deb is now a member of Saint Brigid Parish. She and her husband, Jack, have been blessed with two wonderful grandsons, Brayden and Quinn, ages six and four.
Holly Tellander has loved languages for as long as she can remember. She began learning Spanish in 7th grade herself, and enjoyed it so much that she continued on through high school and into college. Looking for an opportunity to continue her learning of the Spanish language, and solidify her communication skills, she decided to participate in a cultural immersion tour to Queretaro, Mexico in the summer of 2000. While there she attended classes at a local university, lived with a local family and generally soaked up the language and the culture. It was the experience of a lifetime.
When she returned, and as graduation loomed, she attended a job fair at EasternMichiganUniversity where she eventually attained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with a focus on math and science. She had taken so much Spanish that she had a significant amount of extra credits than were needed for graduation! At the job fair she was interviewed by CartwrightSchool District in Phoenix, Arizona and was offered a position teaching 6th grade. She accepted the position and spent 4 years teaching 6th grade (and one year of kindergarten) in a predominantly Spanish speaking community. Many of her students came to her speaking no English, and about 90% of the parents spoke only Spanish as well. Her Spanish skills were in high demand and very useful as she worked in that environment. She decided to take her education even further and enrolled in Northern Arizona University where she eventually attained her masters degree in Bilingual/Bi-cultural studies with an endorsement to teach English as a second language. This degree brought the pedagogical knowledge of how to teach a second language to her experiences of speaking one. As a second language learner herself, she has a passion for teaching languages, and the life experiences to demonstrate to students how a pursuit of a foreign language can enhance your life as well as the opportunities available to you.
She loves teaching Spanish at Saint Brigid School. The class format allows her to be creative in her teaching and cover all modalities of learning. The students are expected to read, write, listen to, and speak Spanish every day. Holly works to keep the class lively and interesting as well as fast paced. She is happy to have found a place with the Saint Brigid School family!
Anne Marie Grahm – Director of Faith Formation
Born in Liverpool, England, Anne Marie completed a Bachelors degree in Theology and her post graduate teaching certification in Religious Education and taught in Catholic schools.
Anne Marie and her family, husband Stephen and 3 children, have been members of Saint Brigid parish since arriving in Midland, via Belgium, in 1995.
Currently completing her Masters degree in Religious Studies, she is a commissioned Lay Minister for the diocese of Saginaw and is fully involved in the liturgical and social life of the parish. Her role as Director of Faith Formation includes the RCIA, adult faith formation and sacramental preparation.
Susan became the computer coordinator in December of 2000. She enjoys having the opportunity to work with students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Susan received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. She has experience working with both Apple and Windows-based computer systems. Currently, Susan is a member of the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning and continues to upgrade her skills through classes, seminars and workshops.
Susan is a Michigan native, having grown up in the Detroit suburbs. In 1982, she moved to the Midland area with her husband where they raised two sons, now grown. Susan became the administrator for St. John’s episcopal preschool when her children were in attendance there. She later took a position as a paraprofessional in the Midland Public Schools at Carpenter Elementary. In 1997, she joined the staff of Saint Brigid Catholic School as a kindergarten paraprofessional. When the computer coordinator’s job opened up she was excited to get back to her educational roots. Additionally, Susan has been a guest scientist in the Junior Science biology program.
Susan is a member of Saint Brigid Parish and volunteers as a Eucharistic Minister at Masses for the school children.
Mrs. Jean Paulus is enjoying her fourth year as the librarian at St. Brigid. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Alma College in Secondary Education with a major in Sociology, a group major in the Social Sciences, and a minor in English. She has a Masters degree in school administration from Central Michigan University. After completing an Alma Admissions Department position, Jean taught at Jefferson Middle School in Midland. Her husband, Jeff, was transferred to Indianapolis with the Dow Chemical Company, and Jean became a Zionsville Middle School English teacher in Zionsville, Indiana. After moving back to Midland, Jean and Jeff became parents to Jennifer and Jonathan. Jean was the Midland County Duncan life-skills teacher in the elementary schools of Midland, Bullock Creek, and Coleman, and was a long-term substitute in many Midland schools. She and Jeff are members of Blessed Sacrament, where she has taught CCD, served on the Welcoming Committee, led Bible Study, and participated on a Christ Renews His Parish team.
Beth joined the staff of Saint Brigid Catholic School in the fall of 2008 as the reading specialist. She provides support and challenges for below grade level students as well as gifted students in grades K-8. Though Ms. Wetmore’s official title is that of reading specialist she also works with students to enhance learning in other academic areas such as mathematics.
Beth’s teaching degree is from Saginaw Valley State University where she continues to attend classes to hone her abilities. Prior to coming to Saint Brigid Catholic School, Beth taught middle school reading and social studies at Saginaw St. Stephen. She has also been a private tutor for many years.
Beth’s tutoring experience extends to the areas of reading, writing, spelling, as well as math. In addition to Beth’s formal degree she has studied a variety of learning methods including Orton-Gillingham, and Dolman-Dolacato which allow her to assist a wide range of students.