Yes. Mr Mackillop did teach Mary Mackillop to write be then he left.
Mary Mackillop was a teacher in Melbourne and Portland, Australia.
Yes, she was a religious sister first, but a teacher second; and she taught in nearly all of the schools she started early on. The complete story is in the link below.
Mary Mackillop was the first canonized saint of Australia. She was canonized on October 17, 2010.
Mary Mackillop helped children who did not have a good education and she built her own school to take care of them.