Last week, I had the pleasure to speak with Mrs. Wirth. Mrs. Wirth is the newest Digital Art teacher to join Oratory this fall. She attended college at Stonehill, in Easton, MA. She said she wanted to come to Oratory because she missed teaching. During Halloween, high schoolers kept going to her house trick or treating, she then deeply missed teaching and came to Oratory in April 2024, applied, and got the job! The reason Mrs. Wirth teaches comes from when she was younger. She said “My Mom used to say I was born a teacher.” Her mom made her a little classroom to teach her little sister and “boss her around…” Although it’s been a few weeks, her favorite time from Oratory already was Freshman Orientation. It helped her feel welcome, and she helped the freshman feel more comfortable and welcome. Wirth said that the most interesting part about Oratory when she applied was how mature all of the students seemed. She loves the campus as she believes that the whole campus is peaceful and she loves how engaged the students are in all of their classes.
Mrs. Wirth grew up in Marlborough and attended Saint John Vianney High School in Holmdel where she later taught. She participated in a few clubs. She was the president of the art club and a manager in the National Honors Society. Her favorite memory from school came in college when she went to Tennessee during Spring Break and built houses for others. “We saw a different part of the world… different way people lived,” said Mrs. Wirth. Instead of having the regular college spring break going home, or going to the beach, she went and helped others. Mrs. Wirth’s favorite class in high school was History. It made her relate better with her Grandma and showed her how things have changed.
Although her favorite class was history, her favorite teacher was her art teacher, her mom. They would go into the basement and do art before school every day. Mrs. Wirth said that’s where she got it from, as a lot of people in her family have been teachers. Her favorite class to teach is Digital Photography. She enjoys taking photos, more than editing and Photoshop in Adobe. Mrs. Wirth loves art because it shows people a historical perspective. She talked about how it shined a light on current-day issues, “it can change the world…” said Mrs. Wirth. Mrs. Wirth’s favorite artist is Jessie Wilcox Smith, who was an illustrator in the 1900s. “Her work feels like a fairytale.” Her favorite piece of work is the Burghers of Calais. She saw it at the Met in NYC in the “Sculpture Garden.” She loved the message spread through the illustration as it showed that the heroes we hold up are just regular people.
Mrs. Wirth’s favorite sport is hockey because she enjoys going to Devils games and her husband played in high school. Mrs. Wirth said if she could be any animal she would be a cat. It’s because they are loved, can do whatever they want, and open up a lot more opportunities because they have more freedom.
