Vietnamese family’s outreach stuns retired schoolteacher

By Joseph Kenny | jkenny@archstl.org | twitter: @josephkenny2

Mary Jane Matejka knew she'd made an impact on her students, but this was way beyond her imagination.

Health issues forced Matejka to retire in 2009 after teaching in the archdiocese for 25 years, a career she enjoyed very much.

About 20 years ago, while teaching at St. Pius V School in south St. Louis, she had a student in her second-grade class, Minh Thu Pham, one of many who were from Vietnamese immigrant or refugee families.

Matejka remembers Pham as quiet, athletic and good at math and art. However, the "sweet girl" as Matejka called her, struggled with English.

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