Anne Carmody

Anne Carmody holds many fond memories from her 45 years as a faculty member in the English Department. The veteran teacher devoted her entire career to Magnificat, advancing the English, theater, and track programs in a remarkable tenure spanning six decades. While many of her family members attended Magnificat, Anne went to Westlake High School to take advantage of the many sports offered at the time. An all-around athlete, she was a champion speed skater, garnered city titles in track and field, and also played field hockey, volleyball, and basketball. After graduating, she went on to study communications and literature at John Carroll University, where her uncle, Father Joseph Owens, was a Jesuit priest. He introduced her to Magnificat Founding Principal Sister Bernadette Vetter, H.M.

“We used to visit her at the Convent, and I just kind of fell in love with this place,” she said. “So when I got an interview here, I knew I was going to take it.”

She joined the faculty in 1977 and taught English ever since, engaged by the enjoyment of wrapping students up in a story and inviting them to relate literary themes to their own lives. Two of the favorite books she has taught are The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for their themes of guilt, honesty, and living in the past. Over the years, she taught a variety of English classes, produced one-act plays, and directed many of the school’s musicals. She even helped recruit then-unknown actor Tom Hanks to discuss Shakespeare at Magnificat while he was a cast member with Great Lakes Theater.

Anne also put her running experience and knowledge to good use in establishing the track and field program at Magnificat, joined by former faculty member Shirley Doyle, and recruited girls to the team as the program grew and succeeded over the years. Her contributions to the school include involvement with the Ski Club, Genesis, and the Video Club— back when announcements were done by video in the 1980s—and she used to bring a trampoline out on Fridays for lighthearted faculty social hours. Looking back, she is struck by the expansion of the campus facilities during her time here, as well as the collegiality of the faculty and staff. While she looks forward to gardening during retirement at her home in Avon Lake, she said she will miss Magnificat and plans to return to see the completion of the Burke-DiSanto Center for the Visual Arts in the fall.

“It has been such an honor to work here,” she said. “Everybody is so professional and collaborative. I love it here.”