Benedictine Sister Mary George

Getting through to a special needs student often takes a special teacher, and that’s surely what Ferdinand Benedictine Sister Mary George Kissel is.

And the pairing is even more extraordinary than that – the special needs student, Russian-born Katya Kelly, is all of 16, and her teacher, Sister Mary George, is all of 91. But the combination works like you wouldn’t believe.

Katya is the adopted daughter of Katrina Kelly, who traveled to Russia in 2001 to bring her back to the United States. Katrina, a single parent, attends a class taught by Ferdinand Benedictine Sister Barbara C. Schmitz that is sponsored by the Family Scholar House at Oakland City University’s satellite location in Rockport.

Upon learning of Katya’s situation -- she has a speech impediment and was behind in learning how to read and write – Sister Barbara C. knew of the perfect teacher: Sister Mary George.

She had recently retired from operating the Reading Carrel in Evansville. She and her late biological sister, Sister Margaret Carolyn, spent 37 years tutoring over 5,500 children who were severely struggling with reading skills.

In November of 2013, Sister Mary George began working with Katya.

 “At first, I couldn’t understand Katya,” said Sister Mary George. “She slurred all her words together, and talked so fast.”

The Sister encouraged the young student to slow down, to open her mouth wider, to speak more distinctly. Katya couldn’t divide words into syllables at the time, she didn’t know about prefixes or suffixes, and she had a limited vocabulary.

As the two spent time together a bond formed, and progress quickly followed.

“Sister Mary George goes the extra mile with Katya that she doesn’t have to do,” says Katrina. “She works with Katya on whatever she needs. It’s been a great support.”

In their first meeting, Katya didn’t get a single word right on a spelling test. Not long after, she spelled all 10 correctly. Sister Mary George then asked Katya what words were important to her. The two discussed the importance of those words, and even how they were related to God.

Says Katrina, “Sister Mary George is very patient, and her encouragement goes a long way. We’re still working with Katya on her social skills, but Sister has made great strides with her. That one-on-one is a great help. And Sister praising her, telling her how good she’s doing, has done a lot for Katya’s self-esteem. They’ve really made a connection, and that’s made an effect on her.”

It’s motivated Katya to want to learn more. Katrina points out that if someone has to get tutored, they normally don’t want to go. But she says Katya loves to meet with Sister Mary George. So much so that she used to ask when she was going to see her Sister again. That confused people, who mentioned that her sister didn’t live near here. Katya responded, “No, I’m talking about my nun.” Now she always refers to Sister Mary George as “my nun.”

After an extended recent pause from tutoring because of the holidays and a semester break, Katya had asked her mom, “Is my nun forgetting me?” At the next session in January, Katya told Sister Mary George, “Are you finally back? I missed you. I thought you forgot about me. I’m happy to be back here now.” Sister Mary George beamed, “It made me feel real good.”

The bond between the two has grown into them exchanging gifts. Katya had given Sister a Chinese doll that had six more dolls inside, plus a scarf. When sister mailed Katya a couple of thank you cards, Katya immediately posted them on her bedroom wall. The stuffed teddy bear that Sister gave her at Christmas sits on Katya’s bed. And Katya is hard at work on another surprise gift for “her nun.”

Katya has even become comfortable enough with Sister Mary George that during one lull in a tutoring session she blurted out, “I want to talk about God.” She couldn’t have asked a better person.

 “It’s so worthwhile working with Katya, because she’s willing and she wants to work,” says Sister Mary George.  “Once they have that attitude, you can talk to them and get through what you want.”

Sister Mary George has been getting through to students for over 71 years. She was lovingly reminded of that recently when a former second grade student approached her at a gathering in Haubstadt. Years before, the student had come to her in tears, talking about a teacher that didn’t understand her and didn’t have time to help her.

At their recent meeting she proudly announced to Sister Mary George that she is going to graduate from Ivy Tech in May, and then go to the University of Southern Indiana to become a teacher. And she said, “I’m going to watch out for the kids who can’t keep up, like you did with me.”