Ellie Wills SAA 9th & 10th Grade English Teacher
By Ruth Ellen Berry, SAA Class of 2020
Mrs. Ellie Wills is the freshman and sophomore English teacher for the St. Agnes Academy Upper School, along with being the freshman class sponsor, assistant coach for the swim team, and the high school Writer’s Room tutor. Although Mrs. Wills has only been a part of the St. Agnes community for the past five years, she has truly become an irreplaceable teacher and role model for everyone at our school.
Mrs. Wills moved from her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she also attended an all girls’ Dominican school, to Memphis to attend Rhodes College. While in college she had a job processing books in the Rhodes Library and began to feel her calling as an English teacher. “I loved those few hours of quiet…I got to flip through new books for a few hours a day and by the time I was a senior at Rhodes, I knew I wanted to teach English and fill my days with literature,” Mrs. Wills said. After continuing her education at the University of New Orleans and working in a large public high school and middle school, Mrs. Wills found her way to St. Agnes Academy. “There was never a doubt in my mind that St. Agnes is where I wanted to teach.”
Not only was Mrs. Wills' decision to come to St. Agnes influenced by her previous Dominican education at her alma mater, St. Mary’s Dominican High School, her experiences during her junior year of high school were also a foreshadowing for her place here at St. Agnes. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina forced her family to flee New Orleans for Houston, Texas, Mrs. Wills found herself in yet another Dominican school also named St. Agnes Academy. “I’ll never forget how gracious the faculty and students at St. Agnes in Houston were to us during that difficult time,” Mrs. Wills said. After coming to our own St. Agnes in Memphis, Mrs. Wills reflects that the Dominican tradition of the four pillars, Prayer, Study, Community, and Service, have truly united all of these places and made them each a home for her at different points in her life.
Mrs. Wills uses her past high school experiences to shape the way she teaches and leads her students. “As a student in an all-girls environment, I was able to mess up and make mistakes all while laughing and learning and without judgment or embarrassment. When students are comfortable in a classroom, real learning is able to happen,” Mrs. Wills says. Although Mrs. Wills teaches English, she hopes for her students to gain more from her class than the plot of Huckleberry Finn. She hopes that through the challenges of her course her students will learn to persevere, not only in a tough book, but in any obstacle they may face: “I want even my quietest student to find her voice and feel confident.”
In all of her many roles at St. Agnes, from swim coach, to writing advisor, to class sponsor, Mrs. Wills shares her light with everything she is a part of at our school: “Needless to say, life has gotten a little bit busier, but with that, it’s been more fulfilling as well.” Each day at St. Agnes Mrs. Wills shares her talents and kind personality with everyone she encounters and, whether it is with constructive affirmations in the classroom or a smile in the hallway, she makes our school shine that much brighter.
The Writer’s Room is a resource for students in 9th-12th grade to receive help with any writing needs from brainstorming ideas to editing, and proofreading, Students seeking help for their English papers are the most frequent visitors, but Mrs. Wills also works with girls who ask for help with college essays, scholarship essays, and creative writing. “When these one-on-one appointments happen, I see a lot more light bulbs going off and concepts start to click with the girls. It helps to give some of girls that little bit of confidence they may need to improve their writing.”