Villa Maria Academy High School student teacher Rebecca Gutherman recently was awarded the St. Catherine Medal, the highest honor conferred on a student in the College of Undergraduate Studies at Immaculata University, Immaculata, Pa. Gutherman, a member of Immaculata’s Class of 2014, is an English/secondary education major with a theology minor. She has been a student teacher in Villa Maria’s Department of English since September 2013. According to Gutherman’s cooperating teacher at Villa Maria, English teacher Kara Bielli, "Rebecca brings her enthusiasm, love of literature and writing, and faith to Villa Maria every day. She is dedicated to enriching the lives of her students."
The St. Catherine Medal is bestowed annually upon one member of Kappa Gamma Pi, the National Catholic College Graduate Honor Society, which exemplifies excellence in leadership, scholarship, faith and service. Members are nominated by their college or university. Immaculata students who are inducted into Kappa Gamma Pi carry on the tradition of great faith, intellect and integrity possessed by the patron saint of the society, St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Gutherman is a scholar as well as a leader. She participates in student orientation, writes for the university’s newspaper, is involved in theater and has aided rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and Camden, N.J. She has also volunteered in Jamaica and Peru.
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“We at Villa Maria are very fortunate to have Rebecca with us. She truly mirrors the qualities of St. Catherine as well as the IHM charism, and as such, is a positive role model to the students in her English classes,” said Villa Maria Principal, Sr. Regina Ryan, I.H.M., Ed.D.
Gutherman is originally from Croyden, Pennsylvania.
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About Villa Maria Academy
Villa Maria Academy High School (Malvern, Pa.) is a private Catholic high school that prepares girls for college and beyond in the tradition of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At Villa Maria, students are taught to be critical thinkers and confident leaders. These young ladies pursue a course of study that will continually reinforce analytical problem-solving skills, higher-level thinking, and increasingly independent work. Villa Maria empowers young women to lead lives of spiritual growth, intellectual inquiry and Christian service.
