Leah Benzing was taught by SSNDs from kindergarten through grade 12 at a parish school and the Institute of Notre Dame high school. She continued her SSND education at Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she worked for 11 years, studied education and is now working toward her master’s.
Since 2011 she has taught 6th graders at Mother Seton Academy, a middle school for disadvantaged Baltimore children co-sponsored by SSND and five other religious congregations. Mother Theresa’s charism and Leah’s philosophy are inseparable. The principle that she adopted at IND ― that one is expected to do her best and in doing just that can affect great transformation ― is the same one she imparts to her students.
“At Mother Seton Academy, we create a safe environment for students to test their limits, learn to succeed gracefully and experience failures as a tool for learning, not an excuse for giving u,” she said. “We try to help our students see that their potential has no limits. . . . By opening their minds to more of the world than they have ever known or imagined, we prepare them for high school, college and careers. They will be transformed and will be able to transform their families, their neighborhoods, their world.”
