After decades of shaping young minds and inspiring countless students, Mrs. Bonnie Sheahon, one of the many wonderful faces of St. Marks, is preparing for a well-deserved retirement. Through her career, she has been a pillar of guidance and wisdom for both students and teachers she has met during her years.

Mrs. Sheahon has been teaching for 30 years in total, but she wasn’t always a teacher. At first, she began her adulthood with an exercise science degree after graduating from Kansas State University. She was teaching, but in a different way. Sheahon taught gymnastics, exercise classes, swimming, and then moved on to a small preschool. In 1991, her and her husband then decided to move to Wichita due to his new coaching position. Mrs. Sheahon was then told by a friend, “Why don’t you get your teaching degree since everything you seem to do is ‘teaching’?”, so she did.

Mrs. Sheahon did not waste any time. By January of 1993, she was teaching at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School. There, she taught two years of middle school science and Religion. For the rest of her 13 years at SFA, she taught 5th grade. During these 13 years, she had her 4th baby, and fought through breast cancer. Although it was hard, she is still here fighting today. Mrs. Sheahon says, “I loved every minute of it”, when referring to her years at St. Francis. After her youngest child, Pete, was born, she came to St. Marks. She has been there ever since, which is 18 years!

Mrs. Sheahon is also known for her love for praising the Lord. Her and her students say the same thing every day as the last bell rings, which is “It’s a beautiful day, Praise the Lord!” As the years go on and more people in the school hear it, it grows to more than just her students saying this at the end of the day. She says that after she leaves her teaching career, she will continue to praise the Lord each and every day.

After her retirement, Mrs. Sheahon plans on spending it with her friends (other retired teachers) and her grandkids. She loves to read and drink coffee, which she will be spending much of her time doing while sitting by her pool. She says that she loves every student that she’s had the privilege of teaching. Mrs. Sheahon enjoys doing what she loves, which is teaching wonderful kids. As she takes on this new journey of her life, Mrs. Sheahon’s legacy of kindness, dedication, and passion for teaching will forever remain in the hearts of those that she has touched.