There are so many talented and inspiring teachers at Mercy High School but one in particular stands out to me in an amazing way. Mrs. Kessler is such an amazing teacher and a huge asset to Mercy High School, and that is shown through the way students react to her teaching and personality.
Mrs. Kessler teaches English 12, Honors English 12 and 9, Lit and Film, and Creative Writing. She started to teach at Mercy in 1994 and continued until 1996. Then she took a break from teaching to be a stay at home mom for her two daughters Calla and Annie Kessler, who also attended Mercy and graduated in the classes of 2014 and 2016. She came back to Mercy in 2006 and has been here since, continually teaching fellow students in all forms of literature, including some of her favorites–Brit Lit and Lit and Film.
Kessler attended Marian High School for her Catholic education and graduated in the class of 1983. She went to UNL and received a Language Arts and Teaching degree after student teaching. Despite attending Marian, Kessler chose to teach at Mercy because she thought the community was much more her style of environment for teaching high schoolers. She thought it was a very magical place and really enjoyed its small size and the community oriented foundations the school was built on. Her overall love for the school also goes to the Mercy Girls that she teaches. Kessler loves all of her students and their open-minded nature and accepting ways and said that is one of the main reasons she loves Mercy.
One of Kessler’s favorite things about Mercy is Farewell Day. Since she teaches predominantly seniors, Kessler finds this tradition to be the most enjoyable because of all the emotions that seniors let themselves feel and because she can understand a lot of the inside jokes that are mentioned. Her favorite book to read and teach is The Book Thief. She absolutely loves the writing and the tragedy of it, and the foreshadowing makes it all the more fun to teach.
Mrs. Kessler is an extraordinary teacher and leader. Her classes are loved by many and her work is not easy but that’s what makes it fun. “I like the way she proposes conversations and topics in her class”, said Sami Huss ’26. Students have always loved her work and personality and she will continue to be one of my favorite teachers here at Mercy.
