Faculty Friday Spotlight: Mrs. Linda Walkins

Happy #FacultyFriday! It’s midterm week--the perfect time to feature our school librarian, Mrs. Linda Walkins! Mrs. Walkins oversees the Learning Commons, which is available to students throughout the year as a quiet space to study or work on group projects. The LC also provides a variety of print and electronic resources. In addition to her duties in the LC, Mrs. Walkins serves as the moderator for The TIE, our student-run school newspaper, the High School Quiz Show team, and both the parent and student book clubs.

Mrs. Walkins is one of our veteran staff members; she began working at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in 1998 and has continued to work at Saint Joseph Prep since its inception. As someone who has been on our campus for almost 20 years, she has loved seeing the transformations the school has gone through, specifically in the Learning Commons. “It’s a joy to be able to walk in the door and work in such a bright and vibrant library. [The space is] comfortable for kids and they enjoy coming here.” She also appreciates working with such a diverse group of students. As a travel aficionado who loves to learn about new places, being in a community with people of all different cultures has been a huge perk to working at SJP.

A native New Englander, Mrs. Walkins grew up in Madison, CT. She moved to Boston to attend Boston College, where she earned her Bachelor’s in English. After graduation, she worked as a paralegal for 10 years. One of her most exciting memories working as a paralegal was traveling to New York to meet with a client so she could endorse a $4,000,000 check to be deposited in the bank that day. She landed on Long Island, got the check signed, and 10 minutes later was back in the air en route to Boston! While she enjoyed working as a paralegal, she knew she had no interest in being a lawyer or going to law school. After visiting her sister’s classroom in Connecticut, she realized how much she liked the school atmosphere and decided to pursue a graduate degree in Library Science at Simmons College.

Unsurprisingly, one of Mrs. Walkins’ favorite things to do outside of SJP is read! On average, she reads 75 to 100 books a year. She has even written two novels herself, called Sandra Cahill’s Best Friend and Forget-Me-Not. Other than reading, Mrs. Walkins loves to travel and take photos; she shares her travel stories, short fiction, and photographs via a personal website. Mrs. Walkins also enjoys cross stitch, trivia, riding her bike, going to the beach and relaxing at home with her husband, Ed, their two cats, Cosmo and Emily, and their dog, Princess.

Thank you, Mrs. Walkins, for taking the time to help us with our Faculty Friday spotlight! We appreciate all that you do to help our students throughout the school year.