For decades, Ms. Michele Rench, a social science teacher, has been known for her infectious passion for Russian History and her strong commitment to students. After a career that has impacted generations of Gators, this will be Rench’s last year teaching. “The number one thing that I learned from her is the importance of putting the student first” said Mr. Lamont Quattlebaum, Dean of Students. That philosophy has remained consistent with Rench’s approach to teaching across the many roles she has served the SHP community in, from her early years teaching Russian history to her time as Dean of Students, and back again. SHP teachers and students agree that Rench’s reputation is defined by a love for fostering intellectual curiosity among her students, especially in the social sciences, and a commitment to relationships and putting the student first. 

Rench first joined Sacred Heart as a 6th grade teacher in 1989, then shortly transitioned to the high school a year later. There, she taught Global Studies, what most people now know as Modern World History at SHP. It was then that she began developing her beloved Russian History course. Rench said her desire to start the course at SHP was inspired by her own passion for it at UC Berkeley ‘75; “I took a full Russian sequence at Cal and even went on to visit Russia with UC Berkeley. I just really became intrigued with the history.” When asked what she loved most about Russian history Rench mentioned “the challenge and the struggle in its story”  and in response to that historical context, “the culture, the writers and their literature.” In 1996, Rench became the Dean of Students, with Quattlebaum as her Associate Dean. Quattlebaum recounted that Rench taught him how “there’s a way to hold kids accountable and be empathetic at the same time.” Mr. Richard Dioli, Head of Schools, a couple years after becoming the Principal of SHP, was the person who asked Rench to become Dean of Students. Dioli expressed that “[Rench] has always believed in the goals and criteria, the charism, the sisters, the legacy, but most of all the students. She cared very deeply about kids and how they progressed in and out of the classroom.”

Rench notably co-founded the Sacred Heart Society in 1997, alongside Elizabeth Jackson ‘97. The Sacred Heart Society offers students the opportunity to serve the school and build one on one relationships with sisters living at the Oakwood center on campus. “Its primary purpose” Rench stated “was to embody SHP’s goal four; to be in service of and build community.” She was inspired to create the program after she took a group of her Russian History students over to the Sisters at Oakwood to showcase their presentations; “And that’s when it struck me. The sisters asked so many great questions and were so engaged and the kids bonded with them and lit up. There was just such a great chemistry and dynamic between the students and the sisters. That’s what really got me thinking about why we aren’t over here more.”

In 2003, Rench left Sacred Heart to become the Head of School at the All-Saints Day School in Carmel for 12 years. After that, she came back and continued teaching history at SHP. Brooke Soderbery ‘26, a former student of Rench’s Russian History class, asserted that “ [Rench] holds a lot of enthusiasm and love for what she’s teaching, so much so that it is infectious. Because she’s so passionate about what she’s teaching, in turn, it makes you excited, creating a feedback loop.” Soderbery went on to say “Rench infuses history and literature” and that her Senior Honors Independent Study, Women during the Golden Age of Russian Literature: The Intersection between the Historical Role and Literary Representations of Women in 19th century Russia, was inspired by that teaching style. 

From pioneering the Russian History course to interweaving the web of communities on the SHP campus, the legacy Rench has left behind is undeniable. However, her legacy is measured not only in the courses she built or the roles she held, but in the generations of students she placed at the center of her teaching. Rench’s commitment to students and her contagious passion for learning will remain a part of the fabric of the SHP community for decades to come.