Although one of the new teachers may seem unfamiliar to those at Mayo, Mayo is far from being unfamiliar to her. Mrs. Windhorst is happy to return to our school after being away for the past 14 years. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, when Mrs. Windhorst was little, she bounced around for a while, state to state, city to city, until she moved to Kentucky with her family. She went to Lyon County High School, then to Western Kentucky College for her Bachelor degree, and the University of Cincinnati to earn her masters. In the process of figuring out that she wanted to be a Special ED teacher, she studied business because her mom thought she would be good at it. After studying business for a while, she realized it wasn’t her calling. Instead, Mrs. Windhorst decided she wanted to be a Special ED teacher, after she met a lady who was hard-of-hearing who inspired her a great deal.

In her first couple of years in education, she was a traveling teacher. When she moved to Rochester, she decided to settle down. This was not her first time teaching in Rochester. From 1999-2002 she was here at Mayo High School. She went on to teach at Bamber Valley Elementary as a resource instructor for the deaf and hard of hearing for six years, excited about teaching little kids after realizing so many positive successes with the older students. She left Bamber after six years and went to Willow Creek for a year, which is where she realized she was happy to teach older kids, which brought her back to Mayo.

Mrs. Windhorst is not just a teacher. She is a wife of 28 years and a mother of two daughters. When she is not working for the school district, she spends time interacting with her family, cooking, sewing, or listening to Christian Contemporary or classic rock music. As a seamstress, Mrs. Windhorst makes renaissance costumes. She helps her family raise many cats and dogs along with beef cattle on their farm, 30 miles north of school. On holidays she doesn’t just bring one dish to the family dinner; she brings many due to her love of cooking and sharing with others. She loves her family and working with her students.

When you see Mrs. Windhorst in the hallways, be sure to say “hello” and welcome her back home to Mayo.