
WYNNE
As soon as she started confirmation classes, Emily Blake, an 18-year-old parishioner from St. Peter Church in Wynne, had the opportunity to do what she always wanted: be a teacher.
Blake grew up Catholic, going every week to the Sunday school program where she now teaches.
“I was always with the younger kids, and I was helping them and teaching them. It’s kind of what led me to what I’m doing now,” she said.
Blake plans to go to cosmetology school this fall to become a nail tech. She graduated from Wynne High School in May, a significant milestone after much of the school was destroyed by a tornado in 2023. The students were split between grades and alternated days attending school at a local college and one school building that survived.
Despite these hardships, Blake enjoyed her time at school and the friends that she made.
“My friend group, we actually come from a lot of different religions,” she said. “I’m actually the only Catholic in that friend group. But we all accept each other for who we are and what we believe in, and we actually find very common beliefs between the group of us. But we all get along famously, and we don’t judge each other based on what we believe in or what religion we’ve grown up with.”
One of Blake’s biggest inspirations is her relationship with her mother who is a kindergarten teacher. Her desire to be a teacher like her mother “really led (her) to being a teacher in Sunday school,” she said.
Working with younger kids in faith formation and first Communion classes, she said her favorite part of teaching is the relationship she has with her students. Seeing that the students “really love being in a class and they love the energy they bring into the room” encourages Blake to “try to make a little family,” she said.
If you could watch the live taping of any show (past or present), what would it be and why?
“I’m a big Lucille Ball fan, so probably ‘I Love Lucy.’ It’s an old one, but it’s a classic.”
More stories will appear in our 15 Young Adults Who Inspire Us 2024 Section as they are posted online.