Meet Mrs. Schwaner

NAME: Mrs. Susan Schwaner

SCHOOL: Bonne Ecole Elementary

CLASS: 1st Grade - Rm. 22

SCHOOL PHONE: (985) 643-0674


Meet Me and My Family

Hi, my name is Susan Schwaner and I LOVE teaching!!  This is my 17th year of 
teaching  - ALL at Bonne Ecole.  I taught First Grade for 5 years and then 
began teaching Transitional First.  I've taught T-1 for 11 years.  Now, this 
year (as BEE will not be having a T-1 class) I am fortunate to be given the 
assignment to teach 1st grade again! - I know where the students are coming 
from (the skills they know), where they are going (skills they need to know) 
and what to do if they are "in between!"  It is a blessing to come full 
circle! And best of all...I am "looping" with my last year's T-1'ers!  I get 
to teach my wonderful class from last year, with the addition of some new 
faces from Kdg., and we will work hard in 1st grade together.  This will be 
such a wonderful year as we already have a fantastic community of friends 
who are very loving and kind and who will open their hearts to our new 
friends.

I've lived in Slidell all of my life.  I went to school at Florida Avenue 
Elementary, Slidell Jr. High and Slidell High School.  I received my BA in 
Education from Southeastern Louisiana Univ.  (I went back to school for 
education after working as a legal secretary in N.O. for 7 years.)  I have 
been married to my high school sweetheart, Scott, for 23 years and together 
we have 3 children, all of whom went to Bonne Ecole, too! (K-5/6)  Our oldest 
son, Nicholas (Nick), is 21 years old and just finished his junior year at 
the Univ. of New Orleans.  He is majoring in business mgmt.  He received an 
athletic scholarship and plays baseball for the UNO Privateers.  He has been 
chosen to be a team captain again this coming year!  (This is where my 
husband went to college and played baseball on a baseball scholarship, too.) 
This summer Nick was drafted to the Major Leagues by the San Francisco 
Giants. We are soooo excited that he reached his goal!  (He has worked so 
hard and dreamed so BIG!) [Not sure yet if he will decide to finish out his 
senior year of college or sign in August to go straight into professional 
baseball.] - We are HUGE baseball fans!!! Tara, our middle child, is 18 years 
old and just graduated from Slidell High (She is ranked no. 22 out of 311 - 
top 6%! I'm so proud!!!). Yeah, Class of 2009!  She completed gifted classes, 
talented art classes and the rigorous "regent core" college preparatory 
classes as well as played on the high school's soccer and tennis teams.  She 
plans to attend the Univ. of Southern Mississippi where she received an 
academic scholarship and will study something in sports/sciences.  Taylor, 
our youngest child, is 13 years old and is going into 8th grade at Slidell 
Jr. High. He, too, plays baseball and is on a summer traveling team, as well 
as SHS's summer Metro team.  (This is a 9th grade team where he plays up an 
age level.)  We have a dog named Toby (a Maltese) who is 5 years old.  He is 
small, white, fluffy and cute!  I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters and 2 sets of 
parents.  (My parents divorced (and then remarried) when I was 6 years old.) 
I have a grandmother who is 102 years old living in Slidell!  And, my mom, 
who lives in Pearlington, MS., finally moved out of her FEMA "cottage" this 
spring and into her rebuilt house.  After 4 years, it is so good to see her 
spirits UP - she is "home" again! 

Along with working at our own businesses, SWIM TIME POOL SERVICE & SUPPLY 
and JUMPING BEAN (inflatables), my husband is a baseball coach. Our favorite 
things to do as a family are: going to baseball games (of course!), 
vacationing at the beach, hanging out/barbequing/boiling crawfish 
with family and friends at our house, and traveling in the summer - many 
tournaments/baseball games to attend!!  We go to Gulf Shores, AL every summer 
with friends and recently we've been to Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, 
D.C. for a family vacation.  (We went to visit our son, Nick, who was at the 
time playing in the Cal Ripken, Jr./Orioles summer baseball league.) My 
favorite part of that trip was, of course, visiting Nick and spending time 
together as a family, but also touring Washington, D.C.  I got to see all the 
historic places and the White House where President George Bush was living 
and working at the time:).  We also went to Disney World (Taylor played in a 
baseball tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports.) My favorite park was 
MGM Studios where I rode the "Tower of Terror!" - FUN!!)  

Last summer we moved into a new house, Tara went to Italy and Greece with a 
tour group (Her favorite part was touring Pompeii and the cruising on a ship 
around the Grecian Isles.), Nick went to play baseball in a collegiate league 
in McKinney, TX (His team won the championship title!!), and Taylor went to 
Pensacola, FL to play in a baseball tournament. And I don't want to forget 
that I and some teachers/family members took a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico this 
past April.  I liked it a lot.  Mrs. Cheryl Petty (BEE 1st grade teacher) was 
my "cabin mate."  My favortie part of the trip was going into Cozumel and 
riding the Segways through town to get to the beach where we did some 
snorkeling.  FUN, FUN, FUN!  

This summer was a lot more calm and relaxing - relatively speaking!!! (hot, 
too!)  I got some "to-do" things checked off my list, hung out at our pool/BB-
Q/boiled crawfish, shrimp and crabs, sent Nick off to play baseball in 
Chatam, MA (the elite Cape Cod league), had surgery, went to Taylor's 
baseball games (for 2 teams) and helped Tara get ready for college.  There's 
always a bit of "MADDNESS" during the summers at the Schwaner household!!!!