Doubling as a teacher and a dean, Ms. Carlevato leaves an indelible mark on the day-to-day operations of Benet Academy. Beyond her administrative duties of enforcing rules, managing attendance, and coordinating transportation, she assumes a more personal role teaching students in Spanish II. By lending her skills to both mentor and discipline, Ms. Carlevato helps Benet remain the perfect environment to work and pray—all with a few Spanish vocab words mixed in.

As a child in a close-knit family, Ms. Carlevato developed lasting values that she  continues to revere as a teacher. Her father always took the time to ask, “How is your day?” after she completed homework and chores around the house. Ms. Carlevato seeks to emulate her father as a dean by showing students great empathy and understanding. Likewise, she witnessed kindness in action through her mother, who always cheered up local children by walking to their lemonade stand and purchasing a drink.

Upon completing grade school, Ms. Carlevato’s parents offered her the gracious opportunity to study at Benet Academy starting with the fall 1992 semester. During her time at the Academy, Ms. Carlevato’s interest in Spanish grew after she joined the school-sponsored trip to Spain her junior year. A year later, she enrolled at the University of Notre Dame with a double major in finance and Spanish. Through ND, she joined the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), a program that provides assistance to disadvantaged Catholic schools across the nation. Working as a volunteer, Ms. Carlevato gained the organizational skills that she would take to Benet Academy—all while demonstrating her lifelong values of compassion and empathy. She later worked at Saint Patrick High School in Chicago before returning to Benet as a Spanish teacher in 2009.

From her mentors and students at ACE, Ms. Carlevato discovered a variety of interactive activities to help students learn Spanish—from Este o Ese for debating holiday preferences to Puntos y Cuadros for practicing grammar concepts. Simultaneously, she hones in her maxim of “Have courage and be kind” for students working together in group activities.

For the future classes at Benet Academy, Ms. Carlevato offers three words of advice:  “Enjoy the moment.” Whether students find inspiration from a junior-year trip abroad or from a game in the classroom, she wishes all students find their own passion as she did.