Vickie Maronick retires from St. John the Baptist

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Vickie Maronick

DRAPER — After 40 years in education, Vickie Maronick, a religion teacher at St. John the Baptist Middle School, is retiring.

A Montana native, in 1997 Maronick moved to Utah from Chicago; when she arrived in the Beehive State she already had 19 years of teaching experience in Montana and the Chicago public school system.

Maronick earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Montana. She later received an advanced level of catechetical certification to teach religion. She also received an endorsement to teach music to students in grades six to 12 and an elementary education endorsement.

Soon after she came to Utah, she joined the faculty of Kearns-St. Ann School as a music teacher. Maronick said she began looking for a job, but once she saw there was an opening at St. Anne’s she never looked anywhere else. She was initially hired part-time. At the time her daughter Elizabeth was attending Judge Memorial Catholic High School, and “a K-8 school seemed like a good fit,” she said.

In 2008, Maronick began teaching religion as well as music at Kearns-St. Ann. “It was a great experience; I loved that school,” she said.

In 2013 she moved to St. John’s to be closer to home; she lives in Draper. She has taught sixth-grade religion there ever since.

Being able to bring her faith into her teaching has been a liberating experience and a nice change from teaching music, she said.

“Music is often very performance-based,” she said. “It’s a nice change to focus and do five solid years of religious teaching. It just has been a nice way to end my career.”

Although she has not taught music for the last five years, Maronick was involved with music at St. John the Baptist Parish. Until two years ago, she and her husband, Mark, provided music ministry at many of the Masses. She has also accompanied the middle school and filled in as the accompanist at school Masses.

Maronick has valued the time she has spent in education.

“A teacher’s role is very important,” she said. “They spend a lot of time with kids and are  another source of guidance for them. They play an important role in the development of their social morals and principles.”

 Although she had taught lower elementary grades, “I really enjoy teaching middle-school kids,” she said. “They are very responsive; so many of them enjoy learning about their faith.”

Maronick said once she retires she is going to enjoy getting up in the morning and savoring a cup of coffee without rushing around and “not thinking every night about the next day.”  

Although she will miss the interaction with her students and colleagues, “you kind of know when it’s time,” she said.

Besides playing the piano at home during her leisure time, Maronick said she anticipates she will do some volunteer work. Once her husband, who is part-owner in an industrial safety products business, retires next spring, they may make plans to do some traveling, she said.

The Catholic education experience has been very rewarding, she said.

“I met wonderful educators and became friends with them,” she said. “I got a chance to work under exemplary administrations and very dedicated people. I haven’t regretted any of it. I’m thankful  for the opportunity to have worked for the diocese for this many years. It’s been great.”

Education has become a family tradition for the Maronicks. Her daughter and son-in-law are educators in Missoula, Mont., while her son Mark Jr.  lives in Istanbul with his family and facilitates English instruction at several universities there.