When it came time for college, she pursued a degree in education at the University of Alabama. Following her graduation, she accepted a teaching job at a public school, but after a few months, she began to have doubts about her future and quit teaching.

“I was miserable,” she remembers. “I felt that I had to hide the truth out of fear of being penalized.” Feeling lost, she decided to visit her mother, who just so happened to work at her alma mater: John Carroll Catholic. During the visit, Novak ran into Sister Margaret Andrew Baker, who, at the time, taught at the school. When Sister heard the news of Novak not teaching, she expressed her belief that God, in fact, was calling Novak to teach His children. Sister encouraged her to apply for a job opening at St. Rose Academy in Birmingham, and one day after the interview, she was offered the third-grade teaching position. There, she officially began her Catholic teaching journey.

“Her love for her students,” notes Dominican Sister Mary Juliana, principal of St. Rose Academy, “spoke to her deep understanding of the dignity of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God.” Novak’s time at St. Rose helped her develop into the teacher she is today, “letting everything glorify Him.”

After three years of teaching, she took a year off to focus on her newborn, but she couldn’t stay away from her calling for too long. She soon heard of an opening at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Hoover and applied. She was hired as the second-grade teacher, propelling her, her husband, and their three children to become active members at the parish.

As can be expected, Novak’s deep Catholic faith and love of teaching doesn’t go unnoticed. “Mrs. Novak’s strong Catholic faith, and her wholehearted investment in not only the children in her class, but the entire Prince of Peace community as a teacher, parishioner, and parent, makes her such a special and unique asset …” remarks a parent of a former student. “Our family sees the way her Catholic faith shines both inside the classroom, at Mass on Sundays, and through the three kind, happy children she is raising.”

Novak’s self-avowed mission as a teacher is to show the way to God. Most certainly, she does so by example, living out what she instructs her students to do on a daily basis: “Show people what a Christian is by your words, actions, and deeds at all times.”