Lakeport — Sr. Faye McFarlane, IHM, recently received a card from a former student.

“When she was in my class we did the rainforest,” said Sr. McFarlane of the student, who is now an art therapy teacher, and who had participated in the class’s rainforest art project.

“(The student) said they still have the pictures framed in their home,” said Sr. McFarlane, and added the former student explained she became a teacher after being inspired by Sr. McFarlane’s class.

Sr. McFarlane, who has taught in Catholic schools for 50 years, this year retired from her position at St. Edward on-the-Lake Elementary School in Lakeport.



She always felt a strong calling to work with children, but initially had been torn between nursing and teaching. When she became a religious sister of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the door opened to teaching: “We’re a teaching order,” she said.

Sr. McFarlane, who had been taught by religious sisters while a child in Port Huron, taught at schools in Riverview, Carleton, River Rouge and three schools in Detroit before arriving at St. Edward.

Her 17 years as a St. Edward second-grade teacher have been quite memorable, from this year’s appearance of a great horned owl nesting on the playground, to having to remove frogs and toads out of kids’ pockets.

“I never had to do that in Detroit!” she recalled.

Sr. McFarlane said she’s always been devoted to the care of God’s creation, which is helped by St. Edward’s location next to Lakeport State Park, and having “acres of woods surrounding our school.”

In addition, the school is one of the United States’ national wildlife school habitats, as well as a “green” school with bat houses, bird feeders, composting and recycling.

“It teaches the children a great love of nature and a respect for life,” she said. “I came from the inner city and it was a real adjustment; I almost felt guilty when I came here because of the beauty and nature.”

She said another noteworthy aspect of the Lakeport school is its presence in the “snow zone.”

“We’re one of the few schools in the archdiocese who have sleds as part of the playground,” Sr. McFarlane said.

Additionally, her years at St. Edward’s have been marked by the “very special group” of people who serve the school, from faculty to volunteers.

“Every day has been a gift here, and I say that in all honesty,” she said. “God has really blessed me in that I’m doing something I love.”

Sr. McFarlane admitted that no longer having a classroom of her own, for the first time in 50 years, will be a transition, but she plans to return to St. Edward to volunteer.

“I’m a simple person and I’m lucky to have the life that God has given me,” she said. “I’ve never regretted it, and I’ve loved every single day of teaching.”