Mrs. Drachnik

The start of the new school year at St. Dominic comes with some new faces. Mrs. Amanda Drachnik is among them. She is one of the new math teachers we have this year, teaching both Algebra 2 and Honors Algebra 2.

During her high school years, she was very active and participated in cross country, basketball, swim, Pro-Life Club, student council and NHS. After graduating from high school, Mrs. Drachnik attended SEMO before transferring to Mizzou. She graduated with a major in chemistry, earning a bachelor’s degree in science and chemistry. At this time in her life, however, Mrs. Drachnik wasn’t sure what God was calling her to be.

“I prayed a lot and I had no idea what God was asking me to do, and I want to be happy. So, there was something with the TA positions that just kind of clicked and I was like, this is what I’m supposed to do is teach,” said Mrs. Drachnik.

Now that she had finally found her calling, Mrs. Drachnik began her career at Mizzou as a teaching assistant, and has now decided to become a full time teacher and join the St. Dominic community.

Mrs. Drachnik is married and is the mother of a seven-month-old daughter, Kendall. Mrs. Drachnik loves spending time watching sporting events, attending family dinners and taking her dog Jamie on walks.

Mr. Margadonna

Mr. Justin Margadonna is another new teacher at St. Dominic this year. He teaches freshman literature and 21st Century Novels. He will be instructing a creative writing class in the spring. He is also the moderator of Writer’s Guild.

“The club is doing well; we have a website now. It’s like an online literary magazine,” said Mr. Margadonna.

Before beginning his teaching career, Mr. Margadonna attended three different colleges: Curry, Worcester and UMSL. He received a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in English. Mr. Margadonna began his teaching career at a public school in Massachusetts, then transferred to Winfield High School. He has now transferred to St. Dominic High School and has already contributed so much.

Outside of his academic career, Mr. Margadonna is married with two children. He loves to relax, take walks with his family and kick back with a good book and some coffee.

Mr. Westlake

Mr. Brandon Westlake is yet another one of the many new faces at St. Dominic this year. He teaches civics, geography and U.S. history.

Mr. Westlake attended Illinois State University where he majored in history education. He then received a bachelor’s of science degree. As a high school student, Mr. Westlake was involved in NHS, student council and the baseball team.

Mr. Westlake has recently moved from Illinois. When he moved to Missouri, he taught at a very small public school. The transition from a small public school to a larger school like St. Dominic was challenging for Mr. Westlake. However, he has adjusted quite well over the past few months.

“The public school was really different from here, though, because there were only about a hundred kids in the whole high school. But it’s nice to be back here at a bigger school,” said Mr. Westlake.

Outside of his busy school life, Mr. Westlake is a big Cardinals baseball fan and loves to read and watch movies. He also enjoys traveling home to Illinois to spend time with his family and friends.

We are so blessed to have Mrs. Drachnik, Mr. Margadonna and Mr. Westlake join the St. Dominic community. They do so much for our school and we wish them the best of luck this year and in the years to come.