St. Anthony’s Mrs. O is top teacher | Renton Reporter Best of Renton

Published 12:06 pm Friday, April 26, 2013

Mary Ormiston, of St. Anthony School, was voted “Best Renton Teacher” in the Renton Reporter’s “Best of Renton” contest this week.

Ormiston has been a teacher with the school for all of her 39 years in the profession. She’s taught fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. When she got the news earlier this week, she was camping with her sixth-graders outside of Tacoma.

“How wonderful,” she said, in a phone interview. “It’s quite a surprise and a nice honor.”

Ormiston currently teaches science and social studies to all 59 sixth-graders at St. Anthony. She’s also in charge of student leadership. Ormiston is fondly called “Mrs. O” by students, according to staff.

“We are all very excited for her as well,” said Karen Kranz, in an email. Kranz is St. Anthony’s development director. “She is a wonderful teacher and very special person and this acknowledgement is well deserved!”

Ormiston has been taking students to sixth-grade camp for 20 years. There they do group-building exercises and challenge courses. Students recognize at camp that they can do more than they think they can, she said.

The students also find they have more things in common with each other than they thought, Ormiston added.

“I’ve always, ever since I was little, have wanted to become a teacher; I don’t know why,” she said. “It’s always been my goal. It’s been a great 39 years.”

Some days are more challenging than others for Ormiston, but she has her mantra to keep her motivated.

“My mantra is ‘life is good,’ so I have to find something good in something negative,” she said. “So, I look for the good in everything and keep on moving.”