Introducing Brenda Thoene
Students have been meeting our new faculty and our SkyHawk Spotlights will introduce our newest family members to the community. Today, we introduce Brenda Thoene.
BRENDA THOENE – SPANISH
Brenda Thoene is a new Spanish teacher at Skutt Catholic. In this role, she is teaching Spanish I and Spanish II.
A FEW THINGS:
Brenda grew up in the small town of Fordyce, NE (population 192). She graduated from in 2002 from Cedar Catholic High School in Hartington, NE.
In 2006, she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and Spanish from the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). She went on to earn two master’s degrees (one in Spanish education and another in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in English as a second language), also at UNK.
Prior to joining Skutt Catholic, Brenda taught ‘all over’, most recently at Duchesne Academy.
IN HER OWN WORDS:
“My life took a different path after I graduated from college and I sort of was thrown into teaching without any teaching background at the time. I fell in love with it my first year of teaching and have stuck with it for 15 years.”
“Social justice is by far one of the most important things in my life. I will always believe everyone should be loved and accepted into any place or situation.”
FUN FACT:
She volunteered for (8-10 weeks for 50 hours a week) two summers (2016 and 2019) at the U.S. – Mexican Border at the Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, on the Mexican side helping children and adults seeking asylum at the border.
“I have experienced cultures from all over the world in this experience, from Haitians to Syrians and from places all over Central and South America as well as Africa.”
Brenda also volunteered for eight weeks last summer at the Kodiak Baptist Mission in Kodiak, AK. She says while there she was refreshed in her favorite bible verse, Psalm 23. “We sang it everyday and now it is eternally there, just like the “Song That Doesn’t End.”
Brenda hopes to spend the summer of 2025 doing service in Puerto Rico.
Brenda is pictured (left to right) in Kodiak, AK, with her 9-year-old cat, Diego, and in Baja, Mexico.