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people
sister kevin
words Jessica Hayes images courtesy Nikita Glendenning and Sister Kevin Bopp
I
In Fort Smith, Arkansas' modern history, there is an educator that
Little Rock. She taught in Conway, Saint Joseph’s Orphanage (later
has achieved somewhat of a cult status. From 1969-1986, Sister
Saint Joseph’s Home) in North Little Rock, and in a small school
Kevin Bopp served as founder, master teacher, and directress of St.
in Slovak, near Stuttgart. When she returned to Fort Smith, close
Scholastica Montessori School. During that time, she was regularly
friends introduced her to the Montessori approach to education
featured in the newspaper and on television.
and Sister Kevin knew she found her calling. She left for training at the Mid-America Montessori Teacher Education Center in Kansas
Born Betty Jean Bopp in 1939, Sister Kevin grew up in Little Rock and
City, Missouri.
moved to Fort Smith in 1956 to board at and attend St. Scholastica High School for her senior year. Her education with the Benedictine
Sister Kevin fell in love with the work of Dr. Maria Montessori, an
Sisters began in kindergarten, and she always knew she would join
Italian physician who spent decades studying child development,
them when she finished school. In 1959, she took her final vows.
observing children, giving lectures around the world, and training teachers. At the heart of Dr. Montessori’s work is the belief that all
Sister Kevin spent her early years with the Sisters as an elementary
children have within them the adult they will become. It is the job
teacher for the Catholic Schools of Arkansas, part of the Diocese of
of the teacher to help that child develop to the best of his or her
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