Hello Families of St. Joseph School! My name is Hannah Smith, and I will be the lower elementary guide in training this year. I am originally from Highlands Ranch, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) and was first introduced to the great state of North Dakota in 2013 when I began studying at the University of Mary. I graduated from the University of Mary in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in Theology and a minor in Catechesis and the New Evangelization; following graduation, I worked as a high school youth minister at one of the Catholic Churches in Colorado for two years and through my work as a youth minister, I felt called to pursue a career in education. I moved back to the great city of Bismarck to pursue my master's degree in education and Catholic Studies which I completed this past April. It was during my time in graduate school where I began to learn more about Maria Montessori and her method of education and was struck at how beautifully her method ties in with the Catholic Church's teaching on the dignity of the human person. My studies are what led me to pursue teaching in a Montessori school and I am grateful that the Lord has led me to St. Joseph's. In my free time I enjoy spending time with the wonderful friends that the Lord has blessed me with, making trips home to Colorado to visit my parents and 11 siblings, and I have recently taken up watercolor painting (though I'm not very good at it quite yet ). I am excited to see where the Lord will lead our school this year and how we will grow in holiness through our studies.