MIDDLETOWN — April promises to be a banner month for All Saints Academy and science and history teacher Anita Brouse.
First, Brouse will travel to St. Louis with Mindstorms Mayhem, the school’s robotics team, which recently earned a berth at an international competition.
Then, she will then head for Houston, where she will be recognized as a Teacher of the Year by the National Catholic Educators Association.
“It’s like a life and career award,” says Brouse, who made the decision early on to remain in Catholic education throughout her teaching career.
“I’ve been so rewarded to work with so many lay and religious people who’ve made this job fun,” she adds.
She jokes that when she took her first job in teaching at the same suburban Washington, D.C., Catholic school that had been her own alma mater, her father told her to call the sister who served as principal and note that she must have forgotten to add a “1” in front of the $7,000 they offered her for the position.
One week after accepting the job, she received an offer to teach in a public school system, but she remained where she knew she would be the happiest in her vocation.
“I was working with the nuns that I had always looked up to,” she said.
Despite the meager pay, Brouse stayed on for five years at the school that had formed her in the faith before moving on to other middle school teaching positions in the Archdiocese of Washington and Baltimore.
When her husband Bryan obtained a position as a federal civilian contractor for the Department of Defense’s Naval Academy Prep School, she applied for a position at All Saints Academy, where she has worked for the last 17 years of her 34-year teaching career.
She said it was a privilege to serve as a teacher to their two children, Justin and Tara, who both attended All Saints. Justin would go on to graduate from LaSalle Academy, and then the Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, N.Y., while Tara graduated from The Prout School and The Catholic University of America.
“This is a great year for us,” Brouse says, noting the accomplishments of her students, and the support she receives in her work by the All Saints community.
Dr. John T. Finnegan, principal of All Saints, nominated Brouse for the award.
He said that for the five years that he has served as principal, and throughout her career at All Saints, Brouse has been instrumental in assisting the school in meeting its mission of “educating for wholeness and holiness.”
“To her students she’s warm, she’s loving and she’s firm. She’s always there. She’s like a mother,” Finnegan said, noting Brouse’s investment in the students.
The students know they have their teacher’s support both in and out of the classroom, as Brouse routinely attends a host of extracurricular activities they are involved in, from basketball games to dances, competitions such as First LEGO League, even students’ birthday parties.
“She has missionary zeal, quite honestly,” Finnegan said.
For several years, Brouse has served as the faculty advisor to the Student Council, helping students to understand the role of government and the expectation of service that all Christians have as a visible representation of their faith.
Also, for the past four years, she’s supervised the school’s summer camp program, providing enrichment opportunities over the summer months to children both within and outside the school family.
Over the last few months she worked after school two days each week to advise the robotics team, which will compete in April for the second year in a row against 85 other championship teams from around the globe at the First LEGO League World Festival.
The All Saints team are the reigning Rhode Island State Champions, an honor bestowed upon them following a statewide competition two weeks ago at Roger Williams University. Last year, the team also won the State Championship and competed at the World Invitational held in Florida.
In the classroom Brouse relishes the opportunity to impart some of the knowledge gained through her own experiences as a Catholic school student.
She recalled during a recent class how during her senior year in high school, Sister Sharon, her English teacher, had become her role model.
When the graduating class had to cancel its plans to take a much-anticipated annual trip to New York City to end the year because of the behavior exhibited by a few graduating students during the previous year’s trip, Sister Sharon ensured that her current students, who had followed the rules, would at least get a taste of the Big Apple.
On their way back to Washington, D.C. a day after attending a Shakespearean performance at a replica of the Globe Theatre in Stratford, Conn., the group stopped long enough in New York City to enjoy dinner at the famed Mama Leone’s and for a little sightseeing.
“She went out of her way to make our senior year wonderful,” Brouse recalled.
In the eyes of her students, Brouse has already made an indelible imprint on their education.
She makes learning fun, her students say, pointing to a review in which they answer questions to earn runs in a mock baseball game, and using different inflections in her voice to simulate interest in the material being covered.
“The language she uses is very inspirational,” said seventh-grader Alden Pratt.
One of her science lessons called for the students to create the components of a cell out of food. Seventh-grader Morgan Schram chose to make a cake with fillings designed to look like the features of a cell.
“That really helped me to remember the parts,” Schram said.
Her classmate, Alex Garcia, said he appreciates Brouse’s willingness to listen to her students and work with them on any concerns they may have.
“She’s open to everyone’s ideas and comments,” Garcia said. “If she hears everyone, she can do what’s best for the class.”
As she prepares to accept her honor, which represents the third consecutive year that a teacher from the Diocese of Providence has been chosen from among the 11 dioceses and archdioceses in the New England Region to receive the award, Brouse pauses to reflect on the qualities she most admires in those she has come into contact with throughout her career.
“The most impressive people you meet in life have never lost their childhood,” she says.
