St. Edward welcomes three new teachers

St. Edward's School has welcomed three new teachers to its staff this school year.
Shannon Evjen is teaching third and fourth grade, Laura Hennen is teaching physical education and health, and Rose Blake in working in the Children's House.
Evjen and her family moved to Minneota last year. Her husband, Dylan, recently retired after serving 23 years and now works in Marshall. Dylan and Shannon have three children, Naomi, Declan and Annika, who all attend St. Edward School. The family previously lived in places in California, Hawaii and Naples, Italy.
Shannon Evjen grew up in Lino Lakes, while Dylan is from Dawson. They decided to return to Minnesota after he retired from the military.
"We chose family over weather," Shannon joked. "We had been away for 15 years and decided to move back to Minneota last year."
Prior to taking the teaching job at St. Edward, Shannon held the religious education job there.
"I really enjoy teaching here. I home schooled our children when we traveled all around and I discovered the love of teaching," she said. "We started to narrow down what we felt was best for our family and the small setting is valuable to us." In her spare time, Shannon enjoys being outside, going on walks and working out.
Laura Hennen, who grew up on a farm outside Porter, previously has been a substitute teacher for the past two years at St. Edward before taking on the position of part-time physical education and health teacher for students in preschool to 8th grade.
"I love working with the kids," she said. "I was a little apprehensive at first and put a lot of thought into it and talked things over with my family, but I'm really enjoying it."
Laura and her husband, Martin, have four children who have all attended St. Edward School.
"Since I'm teaching part-time, I also have time to help with the farming, so everything has worked out," Laura said.
Laura enjoys going for walks, bike rides and spending time with her family.
Rose Blake assists with preschool and kindergarten students in the Children's House at St. Edward. This summer, she helped with the Summer Care program and got to know some of the students.
Rose and her husband, Logan, live in Marshall with their dog, Chewbacca. Rose is originally from New Ulm and was a childcare teacher in Winthrop prior to coming to this area in January.
"One of the best things about teaching is when a child is working on something and has that 'Aha' moment when they figure something out," she said. "You can see how proud of themselves they are. As a teacher, you can't help but be proud along with them. Even if I'm having the worst day ever, that makes my day."
In her spare time, Rose enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, baking, crafting, cheering for the Minnesota Twins, and playing with her dog.