Article by Olivia Jones ‘26 & Joana Meminaj ‘24
For the 2022-2023 school year, Little Flower welcomed a new president. Mrs. Dugan feels absolutely amazing about being back at Little Flower again after thirty years–she’s an alum of the graduating class of 1992. “It feels like being a little kid again—except with a lot more responsibility,” said Dugan.
After searching for a job for 2-3 years, Mrs. Dugan found a job situated on the base of her faith. When this position came up, it was like the best of everything. Not only could she work with her faith, but also at her favorite place.
Throughout her life Mrs. Dugan has always known that she wanted to work with the youth, so when the opportunity came up twenty years ago, she jumped on it. For the past seventeen years Mrs. Dugan worked as the Chief Executive Officer at a Charter school in Frankford.
When asked what her favorite thing about coming to work every day is, we received the honest and heartwarming answer: “100% the girls. I miss you all on the weekends. I get excited on Sunday nights because I know I will reunite with my family the next day.” Walking through the maroon halls every day, we all feel the work of our patroness, Saint Therese, in order. Saint Therese was the first Saint in her life whom she saw as ordinary.
Not only does Mrs. Dugan view Saint Therese as an inspiration, but she is also inspired by her father ,who passed away in 2017. When he retired from being a police officer, he became the Vice President of the Center City District. During his lunchtime and breaks, he would coordinate with Project Home because he believed, “Every life deserves dignity.”
Little Flower girls see Mrs.Dugan as a strong and powerful role model, but all role models have strengths and weaknesses. We asked Mrs. Dugan what her strengths and weaknesses are, and Mrs. Dugan provided, “My faith and fairness,” said Dugan, “I try to have my faith at the forefront of everything I do. I try to be as fair as possible to see all sides,” she added. When asked about weaknesses, Mrs. Dugan said, “I love too much. I always want to save and help everybody. But I cannot do that all the time, It’s hard. It weighs on my heart.”
Since she has been back at Little Flower, Mrs. Dugan has had a handful of funny moments, and it is difficult for her to choose one, but she decided to pick the time when she and Ms. Radebaugh stole the golf cart that Mr. Tim was loading up with soccer equipment. He had left the key in the ignition, so Mrs. Dugan and Ms. Radebaugh thought it was an excellent idea to get into the golf cart and drive it around the parking lot.
In five years, Mrs. Dugan sees herself (you guessed it!) here at Little Flower, watching our community grow and thrive. Mrs. Dugan is blessed to be back at Little Flower; she’s blessed to see all the girls walking down the hallways talking with their friends as big smiles are plastered across their faces. She’s blessed to have her family’s support, especially her daughter Meghan.
Mrs. Dugan’s youngest daughter, Meaghan, is a junior here at Little Flower. Mrs. Dugan stated previously that she treats Meaghan such as every student. Meaghan responded in agreement to the claim, “In order for me to receive a normal high school experience, I have to experience the same things as every other student.” Meaghan adores seeing her mother walk through the halls every day. She said with a grin on her face, “This is the first time I have seen my mom really enjoy her job and engage with the girls. It makes me really happy”.
We all know Mrs. Dugan has several positive characteristics, but Meaghan’s favorite characteristic is that no matter what grade she receives on a test or a homework, she knows her mom will be proud just because she gave all her effort. Meaghan has been very involved in the Little Flower community for the past three years. She has been on the softball and volleyball team, she loves both, but if she had to choose a favorite it would be softball. Through the sport, which she has played since the young age of six, Meaghan managed to gain friends that she now calls family.
This is a quote that Mrs. Dugan lives by and hopes that other people will soon live by too, “Always look up. Live by God’s will, God’s way, God’s time.”
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