Sister will replace sister in classroom

Amid the tears at the closures of several Catholic schools in the Albany Diocese this month is a story of hope: the story of the Walsh sisters.

After more than four decades as an educator, Kathleen Walsh is about to retire from teaching first grade at St. Augustine's School in Troy, where she's worked for the past 30 years. 

As she was making that announcement, her sister, Patricia Walsh Tobin, was learning that she would lose her job as a Kindergarten teacher at St. Mary's School in Clinton Heights, which is closing.

Switcheroo

To St. Augustine's principal James Clement, the solution seemed (pardon the pun) elementary: One sister could replace the other.

"I said yes right away," said Mrs. Tobin, recounting the phone call in which she was offered the job. "It's going to be fun; I'll be getting to know all the people my sister's been talking about all these years."

"When I found out she was taking my place, I was so relieved!" Ms. Walsh put in. "My first grade is in good hands."

She is retiring to spend quality time with her 90-year-old mother, Aurore, with whom she lives: "My dream was to be able to teach till she hit 90. I can't believe it's come true!"

Classroom tour

On a recent sunny afternoon, Ms. Walsh gave her older sister a "grand tour" of the classroom she'd soon be turning over. The room, an airy space where treetops brush the outside windowsills, is plastered with student artwork, writing assignments and colorful posters. 

As the sisters examined a table inhabited by rubber dinosaurs, and a reading station with headphones and books, they discussed their students' love for colored chalk.

"She's lucky," Mrs. Tobin said of Ms. Walsh, since the latter won't have to clean out her classroom at the end of the year. Laughter ensued between the pair as Mrs. Tobin confessed that she'll probably take down some of her sister's profusion of pictures.

"Whatever she does with whatever's here will be great," Ms. Walsh stated tolerantly.

Love for kids

The sisters have no idea whether they share teaching styles, since they haven't seen each other in action in the classroom.

They are natives of St. Ann's parish in Waterford, which closed last year. Before she came to St. Augustine's, Ms. Walsh taught at Catholic schools in Albany, Cohoes, Oneonta and Scotia. Mrs. Tobin taught mostly in Albany and Rensselaer, taking time off to raise her children, and then returning to spend 24 years at St. Mary's in Clinton Heights.

Switching from teaching Kindergarten to first grade won't be too tough for Mrs. Tobin. In the decades the pair have taught, students have begun learning in lower grades what was once reserved for higher ones.

"Kindergarten is just fun! Everything is an introduction; you're opening the whole world to them," Mrs. Tobin remarked.

First grade delves further into teaching students how to read, said Ms. Walsh, adding: "They love reading! Just to hear them reading a few words and reading a book on their own [for the first time] -- no other grade has that."

Familiar face

Also easing the transition is that Mrs. Tobin won't make it alone: One of her current students is transferring to St. Augustine's and will again be in her class.

"She's excited, and so's her mom!" Mrs. Tobin said.

The change is bittersweet for both sisters. Ms. Walsh admitted that it's difficult to leave the school where she's spent three decades, and Mrs. Tobin is deeply saddened at the closing of St. Mary's.

"It's been family," Mrs. Tobin said of her school. "I thought I'd be retiring from there."

"I try not to think about it," Ms. Walsh said of her upcoming last day at St. Augustine's. "I'll miss it very much."

But the pair rallied as they joked about their tag-team teaching.

"Maybe I can sub for you," Ms. Walsh informed her sister. "I know all the kids!"

(There will be just 15 students in Mrs. Tobin's class next year, but that number is expected to rise in the future: St. Augustine's will be adding four pre-Kindergarten classes, which will serve as "feeders" for the higher grades.)

(6/10/04)