Hi! We are Jill Brock and Elizabeth Wetzel. We are first grade teachers at St. John Paul II Catholic School. We feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity to teach together at such an awesome school. Mrs. Brock teaches in the morning and Mrs. Wetzel teaches in the afternoon. Mrs. Brock teaches Language Arts, Phonics, Reading, and Handwriting. Mrs. Wetzel teaches Math, Science, Social Studies, and Religion.
In our classroom we strive to meet every child’s needs. We have enriched our curriculum with many activities that go above and beyond the first grade standards. We have incorporated morning and afternoon centers, Super Spellers, Enrichment Packets, Class Store, Chromebooks, Science Experiments, STEM Activities, Journal and Diary Entries, and Class Mascot.
My name is Jill Brock. My husband, Keith and I live here in Sellersburg and attend St. John Paul II Catholic Church. We have two children, Haley and Drew. Both are graduates of St. Paul Catholic School (now JPII). Haley is doing an internship as a resident on the local missions team at Southeast church in Louisville and Drew is a Radiation Therapist (Radiation Oncology) at Norton Cancer Institute.
This is my 29th year teaching elementary aged children. I received my bachelor’s degree from Indiana University Bloomington. I then received my master’s degree at IUS. I began my teaching career in 1990 at the DePaul School in Louisville where I taught for eleven years. The DePaul School specializes in the unique educational needs of children with dyslexia. I found my experience there to be as deeply rewarding as teaching at St. John Paul II Catholic School. I feel very fortunate to be teaching at such an outstanding school. A Catholic education is so important to our family, and St. John Paul II has enriched us in so many ways.
My name is Elizabeth Wetzel. My husband, Todd and I live in Sellersburg and attend St. John Paul II Catholic Church. We have two sons, Sean and Matt, who are both graduates of St. Paul’s and JPII. Sean is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisville and Matt is a sophomore at Providence High School.
After graduating IUS in 1994, I taught as a permanent substitute in GCCS, then was head preschool teacher at St. John’s Starlight. I taught second grade at St. Stephen Martyr in Louisville. While at SSM, I team-taught science and social studies to mixed groups of first and second graders, along with the regular curriculum. I am returning to classroom teaching after being a stay at home mom, then working at the JPII’s preschool and Junior Achievement’s BizTown and Finance Park. For the past couple of years I have been assisting Mrs. Brock in first grade and substitute teaching, so I am familiar with the structure of the classroom and the first grade curriculum.
We truly love what we do. We respect each other’s ideas and teaching techniques. We will collaborate with each other every day so we are consistent in all aspects of our classroom.