Mrs. Jurić grew up in Urbandale, Iowa, and has been a part of the Dowling Community since she graduated from Dowling in 2010. Over the last 15 years, her journey has taken many twists and turns for her to end up in room 607.
The oldest of five, Mrs. Jurić has always “fallen into the teacher role.” She has fond memories of playing school with her little siblings. Reading the books, being the lunch lady, managing recess. But the thing Mrs. Jurić clearly remembers inspiring her was her third grade teacher, Mrs. Zimmerman.
“Mrs. Zimmerman, she was kind of known as the strict teacher,” recalls Jurić. Being the shy kid, Mrs. Jurić remembers always being intimidated by Mrs. Zimmerman. Especially when, she would encourage Mrs. Jurić to speak, saying, “It doesn’t matter how much it is, but I want to hear you.” And clearly, that encouragement served her well through St. Pius, Dowling, and Loras where she got her degree in secondary education in English literature, and Viterbo University where she got her masters in education.
From Loras, Mrs. Jurić got her first job at Dowling Catholic after a chance encounter with Dowling math teacher, Mrs. Wiskus. “I ran into her and she encouraged me to apply” Jurić admits it was a flash in the moment. She recalls being very stressed to find a job after college, but running into Mrs. Wiskus helped her find her footing. “Coming out of college everyone’s concerned.” But Wiskus told Jurić about the opening at Dowling, encouraged her to apply, and the rest is history.
Dowling was always Mrs. Jurić’s “someday” because she had a great experience during her four years of high school and wanted to give back. Mrs. Jurić considers herself especially lucky because many of the teachers she had at Dowling were still teaching when she arrived, particularly Mrs. Holsapple. “I wanted to be Mrs. Holsapple, I still want to be Mrs. Holsapple.”
After Holsapple’s departure at the end of the 24-25 school year, Mrs. Jurić took over teaching AP Lit, one of the classes Mrs. Holsapple taught during her 35 years. “I’ve always been a lit girl, and I loved that class.” But it hasn’t been an easy ride for Jurić to get to where she is today. “I feel immense pressure to do well, for all of you and my students, and I still want to make Mrs. Holsapple proud.”
There is no doubt she has. Because Mrs. Jurić was destined to be a teacher, and has had Mrs. Holsapple’s support from the beginning. In the back of her classroom, Mrs. Jurić has a gift from Mrs. Holsapple that reads, “15 year-old Molly at DCHS with a book in her hand, leading the class. A sign of the wonderful future to come for her lucky students…” A wonderful future that has become a wonderful present for her, and her students.
