Ava Edwards

Ms. Smith looks forward to sharing her theology insights with her classes this school year.

This year, the Benilde-St. Margaret’s community welcomes Ms. Smith back as a substitute theology teacher for Mr. Cramer, who is on paternity leave. Ms. Smith has experience working inside the BSM classroom as she previously filled in for Sister Jeanne and taught Religion 7 for a few months. This summer, when she was offered a full-time teaching position, she was so excited to share her theology knowledge with the BSM senior high.

There are plenty of reasons Ms. Smith loves the BSM community. From the support she gains from staff members to the student participation, she loves the feel of the bright environment. “I felt very supported by all of the staff. They’ve been really good about answering questions and just encouraging me. I really love the chapel. I think it’s beautiful and the building, there’s so many windows, it’s bright. And it’s been really fun to get to know the students, too,” Smith said.

Many students find Ms. Smith to be a fun and engaging teacher. Junior Mykenah Anderson, who is taught by Ms. Smith, enjoys her teaching style. “She really stresses the importance of notes because not only does writing it down help with your memory, [but] it gives us something to recall back to, and that’s nice,” Anderson said.

Anderson is excited about all this class has to offer; with Ms. Smith as her new teacher, she has a lot to look forward to. She hopes to gain new perspectives and learn about different religions. “I hope to take away different perspectives among the different religions, and to be a more accepting, open-minded person,” Anderson said.

Ms. Smith values the importance of asking the big human questions, and she plans to explore their importance. She plans to intertwine the ideas of learning for academic reasons and to learn how they apply in our daily lives. “I think it is really important to ask these questions and see, why do they matter for our lives and communities and so kind of the integrated nature of both the academic and then also the practical applications, for our lives,” Smith said.

When asked what she loves most about teaching theology, Ms. Smith described she loves the rich tradition of theology. She believes that learning about theology through the academic perspective should be valued within education. “I just love there’s such a rich tradition and a theological tradition that’s so interesting to learn from an academic perspective,” Smith said.