April 2020 Teacher of the Month

The St. Monica Academic Excellence committee is pleased to announce Melissa Hayes as April’s Teacher of the Month.

A longtime member of the SMS community, Ms. Hayes is an alumna of the school, member of the church, and a Bearcat alumni parent. In 2016, we were blessed to have her join our faculty. In her time at SMS, Ms. Hayes has endeared herself to her students as the “growth mindset” teacher, inspiring her students to love of learning, challenging them to be the best that they can be. She models this love of learning in her own life as she pursues independent studies on learning and the brain, developing research-based strategies to enhance learning for her students. Ms. Hayes implements these ideas into her classroom in engaging ways that serve as an example to other teachers on campus as well as teachers at other schools. 

She shares her research findings with her students, colleagues, and parents in a way that has ignited a new way of thinking on campus. One student put it beautifully: “She always says you can do it; she always gives people growth mindset, she is patient about people learning, she always cares and thinks about others first. “  

 Mrs. Hayes is thoughtful and caring, truly taking the time to get to know each of her students academically and spiritually. Working with second grade students in First Communion, she gently guides them through this Sacrament, making space for each child to develop their relationship with God. She seeks out the strengths of each child and celebrates those strengths. She identifies opportunities for each child’s growth and guides them in work through this successfully. Most importantly, Mrs. Hayes is constantly looking to learn and grow, encouraging her students to see the world from different perspectives. Her open-mindedness about different methods of teaching enables her to create a multidimensional learning space for her students teaching to many different learning styles.  

Ms. Hayes’ openness to change and growth is an avenue through which she teaches her students about flexibility and different ways of thinking about a problem. Her classroom engages in open discussions about differing opinions and ideas, valuing each child’s perspective on a problem and its solution. A parent commented: “Mrs. Hayes was very instrumental in helping my own child learn to be more flexible and to help her understand that there wasn’t only one specific way to process math problems. This, in turn, helped her transfer and apply these skills into her own daily interactions with others, helped her learn to keep an open mind, find new ways and approaches to process and apply solutions and demonstrate better listening skills especially with those with differing opinions.”

We honor Ms. Hayes for going above and beyond for our kids. Teachers like Ms. Hayes inspire their kids to see their potential and ignite a love for learning. Ms. Hayes, thank you for the indelible mark that you have made on our community and in our hearts.