Sister Suzanne with the Superintendent of Education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

By Louise Vest

"My favorite teacher when I was going to school was a postulant, Anna Marie. When we kids would play school, I’d
put a scarf on my head and pretend I was a sister," said Sister Suzanne Moore.

Her play turned into her life's work and an extremely long one at that, for Sister Suzanne's been teaching for 64 years in
the Archdiocese of Baltimore. She has spent the past 15 years in Elkridge, teaching at St. Augustine's School.

She’s seen many changes in education and in the world at large, but one major difference she notes in students today, compared to those in schools decades ago, is that they speak out more.

"Also, in the past you have 50 or 60 kids in a class. In the old days with all those students in a classroom you needed more discipline, now you have to give them more lee-way. And today, parents give them so many luxuries. But I always loved the little ones," she said.

"We used to teach art, music, and gym, now we don’t do that, so in that respect, teaching is easier. I think you can expect a certain amount of noise in a classroom. But technology is a big difference, too." She noted that now parents can check what their kids' homework is from their home computers.

"Most kids are still very eager to learn, and if you have to correct them, little kids are very forgiving."

Praying for Change
Sister Moore was born and raised in Baltimore, attended Seton High School and then entered the congregation of School Sisters of Notre Dame. She received a B.S. in Education from the College of Notre Dame and a Masters from Loyola College as well as a Reading Specialist's Certificate.

Her vocation has taken her to schools all around Maryland including Hagerstown, Havre de Grace and Hydes. She came to St. Augustine's in 1991 as a part-time math and religion teacher.

Her order began in Germany in 1833 and is represented in many areas of the world, including Africa, South America, Germany and Poland. The order holds conventions and has recently had provinces in the United States join together.

Though she once wore the complete nun's habit, as restrictions were loosened, Sister Suzanne chose to give up the habit and wear the still conservative but shorter skirts. As for her calling, modern society has radically changed the number of young women becoming nuns.

"There are many distractions today, and it's hard for kids to give that up." But she added that she had several years to think about whether or not she truly wanted a life in the Church. She began in the order in 1939 as a postulant, but didn't take her final vows until 1948.

"There have been changes in the church. And although there are still some differences in churches, we have much in common with the Protestants," she said.

When speaking of changes in the world, particularly the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she commented, "We prayed for many years for the conversion of Russia and it happened."

The Smell of Chalk in the Morning
For over six decades, the education of thousands of children began with Sister Moore's journey to her classroom. That's a lot of lesson plans and a lot of chalk! But at St. Augustine's she doesn't have to travel far as she lives with two other nuns in the convent at the school.

"I have been very happy here at St. Augustine School. We have a wonderful faculty, and parents are very cooperative and the children on the most part are eager to learn," she said.

Since 2004 she’s been working as a Reading Resource Teacher and along with Penny Nichols analyzes the strengths of each student. She also assists homeroom teachers. Sister Suzanne plans on teaching as long as her health allows, and as long as her "kind and caring principal, Mrs. Pat Schratz, wants to hire me."

In her spare time, Sister Suzanne doesn’t watch much T.V., but she does read the newspaper and religious books. Though she’s given up driving, she catches rides from her fellow teachers. Many of her outings are local ones and she finds Elkridge to be "a close-knot community."

She’s also enjoyed the trips she's taken. In 1991 she visited Germany, Italy and Austria, and took in the Passion Play at Oberammergau, Germany.

"Vatican City was wonderful and the Pope was there for a big audience of people and when he walked down the aisle, I was just a few feet from him," she recalled.

In 2004, to commemorate her 60 th anniversary of teaching, she went to Lourdes, France and also visited the U.S. Forces burial ground in Normandy, France. Closer to home, every year she attends a week's retreat held in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Not surprisingly, the Sister's addictions are few. She does admit to a fondness for cakes, made by a fellow teacher, for chocolate, crossword puzzles, and, of course, tending to her students and reaping the rewards of teaching.

"The best part of it all is seeing a little child in first grade who doesn't know anything about reading and in four or five months you see them blossom."

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