Melding Science and FaithRead Time 9 min

Far from being a lifelong dream, Isabel Warning’s calling as an educator came “as a total surprise.”

Warning is one of six teachers who will be honored with the 2026 Catholic Herald Teacher of the Year Award at the Archbishop’s Catholic Schools Dinner on March 4.

It wasn’t until the last few years of college, as she was doing research internships for her degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, that it occurred to Warning: She didn’t actually enjoy being alone in a lab.

“I liked presenting the research a lot better,” said Warning, who was also completing a degree in theology. “I liked telling the story about it and trying to figure out how to get people interested.”

At the time, she was also volunteering with a middle school group at her then-parish, Ss. Peter and Paul, Milwaukee, and found that she loved interacting with students and planning activities for them.

So, when an email landed in her inbox from the Magis Catholic Teacher Corps at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, Warning made a decision that would change the course of her life.

“I thought, you know what? I just want to try that out,” she said of the two-year postgraduate teaching program, which places student teachers in Catholic school while they earn their graduate degree.

She was assigned to Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, and the rest is history — a decade later, she’s now on staff as a science and religion teacher at the school, where she has become “a trusted colleague and an invaluable member of our school community,” Dominican President Leanne Giese said.

A parishioner at St. Francis Borgia, Cedarburg, Warning lives in Grafton with her husband, Jack. She herself is a proud graduate of Catholic schools, having attended St. Sebastian, Milwaukee, through eighth grade in addition to her university and postgraduate studies at Catholic universities.

For Warning, the most beautiful part of a Catholic education is that it is an exploration of truth — no matter what the subject matter is.

“The Catholic worldview is coherent — we don’t have to reject what our reasoning discovers, we don’t have to turn away from certain aspects of the world to support our faith, because it actually all fits together,” she said. “I want my kids to see that. Our God is this God of logic and order, but also of openness and possibility.”

After receiving training from Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, Warning developed an elective for Dominican students called “Faith and Science,” focusing on the integration of Catholic teaching and scientific understanding. The elective fills up quickly each semester, said Giese, who described the course as “engaging, rigorous and relevant.”

In the elective, Warning describes leading students through three critical questions that culminate in an examination of what it means to be human, made in the image of God, existing in a world of his creation.

“We look at paleoanthropology and different hominid species, but we don’t actually get into specific discussions about Adam and Eve or polygenism or monogenism — the focus is instead on: what is the capacity of a human being who can use symbolic language and reasoning, and what does Jesus reveal to us about what being fully human is about?” she said.

“Yes, we have these biological needs and drives, and that’s not bad, that’s just our inheritance as a product of evolution, but we are also created especially to be in God’s image. We have the capacity to freely will the good of others in a way that other animals can’t, and Jesus shows us what this gets to be like.”

Isabel Warning, a member of St. Francis Borgia, Cedarburg, has taught science and religion at Dominican High School, Whitefish Bay, for 10 years. (Submitted photo)

Warning’s development of the Faith and Science course “is one of the clearest examples of her innovation and leadership,” said Dominican Principal Vincent Murray, but he points out that she also stays engaged in the community beyond the classroom. She mentors new teachers, coaches in the Junior Knights volleyball program, mentors students interested in health and medical fields by leading Dominican’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America and helped coordinate last summer’s inaugural Dominican Educator Learning Community Academy, which welcomed more than 70 educators and leaders from 15 Dominican schools across the country.

“She forms students not only academically but spiritually and personally,” Murray said.

Warning modestly insists she isn’t doing any more than her colleagues are to model the Catholic faith — but she does relish the opportunity to show her students “the hopefulness my faith gives me.”

“It’s a little trite to say, but I do think that having a positive attitude that is authentic is a way of being able to model joy,” she said. “And happiness is a helpful thing when you’re trying to invite young people into faith.”

Get to know Mrs. Warning

• Home parish: Francis Borgia, Cedarburg

• I live in: Grafton

• I knew I’d become a teacher when: Teaching surprised me — I thought I’d go into research, but I discovered I loved sharing stories and ideas more than running experiments, and at the same time my theology studies awakened a desire to help students see reasoning and truth-seeking as gifts from God. That path led me through the Magis Catholic Teacher Corps at Creighton University and eventually to Dominican, where I learned how to live out this vocation in community and in the classroom.

• I love teaching in a Catholic school because: We’re able to push kids to examine who they’re becoming as people and what is their vocation, not just what is their career training.

• Favorite scripture verse: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

• Favorite book: A book that shaped my imagination from childhood onward is “Little Women,” because its portrayal of unconditional family love and the discovery of vocation continues to resonate with me — and the movie adaptation is absolutely gorgeous, too.

• Favorite saint: Katherine Drexel – she gave up an “easy” life in the absolute service of others.

• When it comes to our faith, I want children to know: God desires your flourishing and invites you to be a co-creator with him, even when his plans unfold differently than you expect. Our faith isn’t restrictive — it’s an invitation to become fully alive.

• My family: My husband, Jack.

• I love Catholic school for my own children because: My husband and I hope to send our future children to Catholic schools because we both experienced how these communities nurture responsibility, belonging and care. We believe they help form kids in values — love, kindness and a desire for truth — that lead to a richer life than achievement alone.