Patrick Casey, MAT, believes that a solid education can open up many opportunities. He came to LJCDS because of its long legacy of having a vibrant community of faculty, staff and students that consistently excels. Mr. Casey first got into teaching because he believes that education can be a powerful tool to break barriers of inequity and can be a means to empower students. He has a heart for service and advocacy. Being a teacher and coach allows him to help students of all backgrounds pursue a meaningful future and encourage them to positively impact the world around them. 

Mr. Casey played college basketball while earning a Bachelor of Arts in history and religious studies from Davidson College in North Carolina. He earned a Master of Arts in teaching from St. Louis University while also completing the two-year Teach for America program. Mr. Casey worked at an inner-city school focused on advocating for educational equity across the region and country. 

In his free time, Mr. Casey enjoys spending time with his wife, hiking and trying to find the best coffee shops in each city that he and his wife visit. 

 

 

 

 

 

“I inspire greatness by encouraging those around me to not be afraid to communicate with others in any capacity.”
 
By evaluating and continually updating the curriculum, Beth Cross provides students with Spanish courses that challenge them and keep them productive. She strives to improve their abilities to listen, read, speak and write. Upon completion of each level, Profe Cross wants her students to meet national standards of communication as established by the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages. She prepares them to be the best global citizens they can be because language teachers are not merely teaching the language but the cultures they represent.

At 16, Profe Cross spent her junior year of high school in Argentina. It was there she fell in love with the Spanish language and immersing herself in another culture. She studied Spanish education at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she had yet another opportunity to study abroad, spending second semester junior year at the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain. Profe attended graduate school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she received her master’s in intercultural communications. Since 2003, she has taught high school Spanish. Profe currently teaches Spanish III, Spanish IV and Spanish Cinema.  She also facilitates the Freshman Health and Wellness program.