By J1 Reporter Lily Palmer

In this 24-25 school year Marian has a new vocal and fine arts teacher Ms. Mary  Bruegman. She teaches classes like choir, ballet and tap, and Piano 1 on both A and E days. Also, she is one of the Marian Momentum show choir directors along with Mrs. Michelle Delisi.

Before coming to Marian, Bruegman attended Millard West High School and was highly involved in the music programs there, especially the show choir. Then she got her bachelors in vocal performance at Wayne State College and then she went to UNO and got a masters in vocal performance.

  After her education she went on to work many different jobs like teaching vocal lessons to Iowa Western college students and subbing as a music teacher in many different school districts around Omaha. She said she felt like she was searching for a job for a long time that was the right fit. “The stress of having many jobs was getting to me and I wanted to find a more permanent job,” Bruegman said. 

To land this job Bruegman got an interview with Marian about becoming the new vocal and music teacher at Marian. “After the interview, I returned to my car and was overwhelmed with how right the job felt and knew this is where I wanted to be,” she said. This job brought her peace and made her feel like this is where she is meant to be.

Some of her favorite memories and experiences at Marian so far are with the show choir. One is the performance at the Westside competition on February 1, which she says, “was one of the best performances where the whole group was there, making a wonderful experience.” At this performance Momentum placed second in the treble division which is a division for single gender groups because of the guidance of Bruegman and Delisi all year.

Also, the warmup before the last show choir performance at Omaha South was a fond memory for Bruegman because it was a moment that the whole group bonded and connected as one family. This moment really salified it for Bruegman that Marian is the place she should be because of all the amazing people she gets to do it with.

Overall, Bruegman says that Marian has shaped her as a person by: “ growing my faith and allowing me to grow in a faith-based school.” Marian has been a great place for her to grow her faith in a place surrendered by a school that shares her beliefs.  Through Marian, Bruegman said that God has shown her how to be grateful and recognize all the gifts it has brought her. 

Ms. Mary Bruegman directs the choir. Photo courtesy of Bruegman