Has Mary Poppins descended from on her umbrella for the Preschool Child Development Department?

  Mrs. Bowne is not sure where the nickname began. “My students at Cherry Hill West started to compare me to Mary Poppins,’ she said. “And the nickname stuck.”

  She said that the students saw her as firm, yet caring, organized, and very friendly and open. “Similar to the Mary Poppins from Disney,” she said.

   Mrs. Murphy-Bowne, who goes by Mrs. Bowne, attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), studying fashion design, focusing on children clothes, and children inspired technical textile.

   From a young age, Mrs. Bowne wished to be an English teacher; however her mother, a math teacher, discouraged her from pursuing her goal. She studied human nutrition at Penn State University and worked as a dietitian at Temple, Cooper, and Virtua for many years.

   But the lure of the classroom kept ringing. Mrs. Bowne has taught many different subjects in Family Consumer Science, including cooking, fashion, and child development. She especially loves the little kids. “I never expected to find a passion for working with small children,” she said.

   Her husband, Mr. Bowne, a journalism and English teacher, also teaches at Eastern. Their daughter, Nancy, is a senior at Eastern too.

   Mrs. Bowne is very excited about this opportunity.  She has volunteered at Eastern before, helping Ms. Heyers, the fashion and interior design teacher at Eastern, with costumes for school plays.

   She loves how the Preschool Child Development program at Eastern provides a very different experience where students can be the teacher.

   She is deeply involved with the students, like reading her favorite book, Madeline, at any chance she gets and trying to live up to her idol, Kermit the Frog. Just like Kermit, she hopes to someday learn how to play the banjo, maybe even playing for her classes.

Mrs. Bowne already has fallen in love with Eastern. “The students are remarkable,” she said, “and create a unique culture in the school.”