Mrs. Cross

Mrs. Patty Cross has her PA State Certified Instructional II Elementary School Teacher Certificate for Grades K to 6 and her Diocesan and Advanced Core Religious Certification. Mrs. Cross taught for 27 years at St. Ursula School. She taught fourth grade (25 years) and first grade (two years). Mrs. Cross also taught computer classes for grades K to 4 for a number of years.

Mrs. Cross is a graduate of Duquesne University where she majored in Speech and Theatre with a minor in English. She received her Certification in Elementary Education through Chatham University and worked on her Masters in Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Cross has shared her love for the theatre with the students by directing and choreographing full musical productions at St. Ursula School for twenty years. Also, she was school moderator (10 years) for the teams in grades 4 to 6 competing in the annual Western Pa Council of English Teachers English Festival. Mrs. Cross coached and judged for Forensics and was Forensics Moderator in 2016-2017.

Mrs. Cross is happy to be teaching fourth grade at Blessed Trinity Academy. Here she has also started the tradition of full musical productions performed by students in grades 3 to 8. In the spring of 2018 she directed the BTA Broadway Junior production of “Seussical, Junior” and in May 2019 the Broadway Junior production of "Disney's Peter Pan, Junior". Mrs. Cross also organized the English Festival participation for grades 4 to 6. Mrs. Cross is one of BTA’s Forensic moderators..

Thoughts on what inspired me to become a teacher.

It’s funny how things work out, which shows how God has a plan for each one of us. I always loved the idea of being a teacher and I always loved the theatre. When I was in elementary school, I had Sisters of Mercy as my teachers, and I remember wanting to become a nun so I could teach or be a missionary. Then in high school I had the lead in a musical called “The Fantasticks”, which started my dream of being involved in the theatre. I performed in many shows in the Pittsburgh area before and after I went to graduate school for an MA in theatre at the University of Pittsburgh. Once I started teaching I wanted to share my theatrical experience not only in making my lessons more interesting for the students, but by giving them the experience of putting on full musical productions.

Now I have been teaching for twenty-eight years in the Catholic Schools. I have had the chance to share my theatrical experience with the students in class and by volunteering to direct plays and musical productions for the last twenty years. The BTA students were awesome in our spring musicals “Seussical, Jr.” and "Disney's Peter Pan, Jr.", Music Theatre International Broadway Junior shows. This coming year I am looking forward to teaching fourth grade and working with our BTA students in directing another Broadway, Junior Spring Musical.

The Cross Family

It was a blessing to have my own children attend St. Ursula from Kindergarten to eighth grade while I was teaching there. I have two wonderful daughters, Jennifer and Marissa, who were involved in band, forensics, soccer, basketball, and the plays when they were young. My husband, Don, also volunteered at the school and was soccer coach for a time. My daughters were in all of the plays I directed when they were at St. Ursula. Now that they are grown, I look forward to "show week" in May when they come back to help me. Jennifer is a respiratory therapist at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, and Marissa lives in New York City and works as a research coordinator in psychology at Columbia Medical University.

My favorite way to spend summer vacation.

I like spending time at home with my family in the summer. Since I live in a city neighborhood of Pittsburgh, I enjoy doing things in the city like attending shows downtown, going to shop at the Strip District, or talking walks in Schenley Park. My husband, Don, grew up near Portland, Maine so my family enjoys vacationing in Maine to visit family and to enjoy the beautiful beaches. I also enjoy traveling to New York City to visit my daughter. Our dog, Rascal, is a long haired chihuahua who lives up to his name, but can also be adorable. Rascal often travels with us when we travel on vacation.

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