“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
St. Louise de Marillac
Celebrating Catholic Schools Week: Formed in Faith and Learning
By Sebastian Isaacs, Communications intern
Ann Andriacco and her husband, Dan, are both faith-led individuals hoping to create positive change for Catholics worldwide.
Ann Brauer Andriacco, who self-describes as a “student of the world for nearly 75 years,” spent the majority of her education – past and present – being taught by Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. She attended St. Dominic Elementary School from first through eighth grade while the school itself was still under construction, growing up surrounded by women of faith whose influence would shape her life.
Ann still remembers the various lessons her Sister-teachers taught her, both academic and personal. In first grade, S. Anthony Ann taught her how to use scissors; in third grade, S. Marie Vincentia Roney challenged her with rigorous math lessons. As a sixth grader, Ann was introduced to Elizabeth Ann Seton by S. Ann Eleanor O’Donnell – years before her canonization. Later, Ann would name her own daughter after the saint.
One of Ann’s favorite teachers was S. Immaculata, who taught her in seventh grade and continued to write to Ann after being transferred West to serve in a hospital. “She fostered the art side of me,” Ann recalls. In a Catholic school setting where opportunities for creative expression were limited, S. Immaculata’s encouragement of Ann’s artistic gifts was deeply meaningful.
Ann Andriacco attended St. Dominic School as it was still being built, and graduated 8th grade in 1965.
The late S. Catherine Kirby also played a pivotal role in Ann’s life. Ann considers her “the woman most responsible for my ultimate decision to become a teacher years later.” As Ann’s eighth-grade teacher, S. Catherine encouraged her to take the entrance exam for St. Ursula Academy.
After graduating with a BFA from UC’s DAAP and raising children, Ann decided to pursue a master’s degree in education at the College of Mount St. Joseph. During her admissions interview, she reconnected with S. Catherine, bringing their shared story full circle.
While at Mount St. Joseph, Ann studied with several Sister-teachers, including S. Marty Dermody, who profoundly influenced her approach to education. Teaching Science Methods, S. Marty “opened my eyes to what is now called Project-Based Learning,” Ann says. “I’ve used it ever since. It teaches students to analyze, think, collect data, and engage deeply – rather than simply memorize.”
After graduating in 1990, Ann was recommended by her supervisor, S. Annette Paveglio, for a teaching position at St. Dominic School. There, she taught science, English/Language Arts, and later religion for 11 years, before serving an additional 15 years as parish director of religious education.
Though her positive experiences as a student inspired her vocation, it was the leadership of S. Patrick Ann O’Connor, principal at St. Dominic, that allowed Ann to flourish as an educator. With Sister’s support, Ann fully integrated Project-Based Learning into her fourth-grade classroom through a project she called Planimal House, which taught students how to care for living things from bacteria and plants to small animals.
Pictured here in her St. Dominic uniform, Ann Andriacco especially enjoyed the lessons she learned from S. Immaculata and S. Catherine Kirby.
At times, Ann’s classroom resembled a small zoo, complete with “a litter box–trained rabbit, a hamster, a turtle, a tarantula, and a snake.” While S. Patrick Ann, who had a fear of snakes, kept her distance, she nonetheless encouraged Ann’s innovative teaching and trusted the learning taking place alongside the classroom’s many creatures.
For Ann, “Teaching is about living a good life and setting an example of faith and love for the world. As Catholic Christians, we are all teachers in a sense. Some of us choose the classroom; others teach through daily life – in medicine, construction, the arts, technology, or as moms and dads.”
Like the Sisters of Charity, Ann looks to Jesus as the exemplar teacher. Now retired, she continues to live out that call as president of HOPE: Holy Land Outreach Promoting Education, fostering relationships between teachers in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and those in the Latin Patriarchate of the Holy Land.
To the many Sisters who helped shape her life, and the lives of countless students, Ann offers her gratitude: “Thank you. You chose a different path, but we were all your children in a way. You set standards, gave us love when we fell on the playground, and showed us how to live in the world and be outside the world at the same time. We are grateful for your time with each one of us.”
catherine kirby
S. Catherine Kirby has been a constant in Ann Andriacco’s life, being her eighth grade teacher as well as mentor while Ann attended the College of Mount St. Joseph for her Master’s degree.
marie vincentia roney
S. Marie Vincentia Roney was Ann Andriacco’s third grade teacher, whose firm teaching methods impacted Ann.
ann eleanor o’donnell
S. Ann Eleanor O’Donnell was Ann Andriacco’s sixth grade teacher at St. Dominic Elementary School, and a close family friend, who influenced Ann’s life early on.
dermody msj
As Sister-teachers at the College of Mount St. Joseph, S. Marty Dermody (right) and S. Annette Paveglio (second to right) both prepared Ann Andriacco for a life of educating others.
ann first communion
First Communion
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