Mary Stratman

I was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, and number six out of a family of seven. I have three brothers and three sisters and two of the best parents in the world. I am also the aunt to nine beautiful nieces and nephews who keep me busy in my spare time with their sporting events and school programs.

I attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic School which was a neighborhood school at the end of my block. After grade school, I attended Ursuline Academy and Springfield College in Illinois, which gave me fifteen years of education under the Ursuline sisters. I went on to graduate from Illinois State University with a degree in Special Education and certification in Deaf and Hard of Hearing. After student teaching, I went back to my former grade school and taught fourth grade. It was a great experience and I was teaching with many of my old teachers and friends!

I decided to do a year of volunteer work through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and was placed in Phoenix, Arizona, at an inner city Hispanic school called St. Matthew’s. I was the kindergarten teacher with 19 students who had never been to any schooling before St. Matt’s. Many of them only spoke Spanish, so we worked together teaching each other our native languages! I loved the school and signed on for one more year, moving to the third grade position. After two years, it was time to come back home to be closer to my family and friends. I decided to go back to school full time to work on my master’s degree in Elementary education which I did at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.

With only a few classes left, I made the decision to teach full time again and finish my master’s by commuting. So I moved back to Springfield and took a job at St. Patrick School and was married in February of this year. After my husband’s job transfer to Bloomington, I was on the move again and am still trying to find the time to finish up those last few classes!

Brian and I are expecting our first child in early January. We are so excited to be parents and meet our new baby! We are enjoying Bloomington and both very happy with the decision to move here. St. Mary’s has given us a family feeling since we first attended church when moving to town. I feel so fortunate to be in such a great school with wonderful coworkers and super students. I look forward to many happy years in the St. Mary’s family!

	Mary Stratman
	Email mary.stratman@stmarysschool.net Special Links	I was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, and number six out of a family of seven. I have three brothers and three sisters and two of the best parents in the world. I am also the aunt to nine beautiful nieces and nephews who keep me busy in my spare time with their sporting events and school programs. I attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic School which was a neighborhood school at the end of my block. After grade school, I attended Ursuline Academy and Springfield College in Illinois, which gave me fifteen years of education under the Ursuline sisters. I went on to graduate from Illinois State University with a degree in Special Education and certification in Deaf and Hard of Hearing. After student teaching, I went back to my former grade school and taught fourth grade. It was a great experience and I was teaching with many of my old teachers and friends! I decided to do a year of volunteer work through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and was placed in Phoenix, Arizona, at an inner city Hispanic school called St. Matthew’s. I was the kindergarten teacher with 19 students who had never been to any schooling before St. Matt’s. Many of them only spoke Spanish, so we worked together teaching each other our native languages! I loved the school and signed on for one more year, moving to the third grade position. After two years, it was time to come back home to be closer to my family and friends. I decided to go back to school full time to work on my master’s degree in Elementary education which I did at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. With only a few classes left, I made the decision to teach full time again and finish my master’s by commuting. So I moved back to Springfield and took a job at St. Patrick School and was married in February of this year. After my husband’s job transfer to Bloomington, I was on the move again and am still trying to find the time to finish up those last few classes! Brian and I are expecting our first child in early January. We are so excited to be parents and meet our new baby! We are enjoying Bloomington and both very happy with the decision to move here. St. Mary’s has given us a family feeling since we first attended church when moving to town. I feel so fortunate to be in such a great school with wonderful coworkers and super students. I look forward to many happy years in the St. Mary’s family!