April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
BACK TO SCHOOL
These teachers are heads of the class at their alma maters
These teachers are heads of the class at their alma maters
Mrs. Devine, the preschool teacher at St. Mary's School in Waterford, and Ms. Cuomo, a history teacher at Central Catholic High in Troy, are alumni of their respective schools.
HOME TO WATERFORD
Mrs. Devine, a native of Waterford who graduated from St. Mary's in 1992, has been teaching at her alma mater for 15 years. Her two daughters now attend the school: Grace is a sixth-grader; Kaygan, a fourth-grader.
Mrs. Devine's father was a police officer in Waterford for 35 years; her mother was a stay-at-home mom. She enjoys the fact that, today, her own family is nurtured through the school community in which she grew up.
"When I started working here, I felt like I was back home again," she said. "I think that's what my parents taught me: You come back home and raise your family, and you're just surrounded by love. That's how I really feel, being in this community."
Mrs. Devine is grateful to share in her daughters' school experiences as part of her job: "I come to work and school with my children every day, and I get to leave with them."
She even had Grace and Kaygan in her class as preschoolers. Grace told The Evangelist she loved that. In fact, some toys Mrs. Devine remembers playing with as a child are still in use in the classroom.
Mrs. Devine always knew that she wanted her girls to attend St. Mary's.
"This is what I knew growing up, and I'm kind of giving them that same foundation of morals and being a good person, and just the sense of a close-knit community," she explained.
Her husband, Eric, an author and English teacher in the Burnt Hills School District, is also very involved with events at St. Mary's.
Mrs. Devine often feels memories from her student days wash over her as she watches her daughters partake in school traditions like a May crowning of the Virgin Mary and reading at Masses at St. Mary's Church. She even teaches some former classmates' children.
"I have the babies of the school," she said. "When [former classmates] can leave them with me, it makes them more comfortable."
Since Mrs. Devine's mother-in-law, Ann Devine, is the school nurse, the teacher is also comforted that St. Mary's is a safe place for her daughter Grace, who is a type-1 diabetic.
Grace said she's happy to encounter her mom at school.
"I see her in the hallways, at lunchtime, recess, maybe when walking through a classroom," she said. "I get to give her a hug."
HERE'S TO CCHS
In her junior-year history class at Catholic Central High School in Troy, Ms. Cuomo's teacher had his students teach the class for a day. She must have shone in the role, because his evaluation noted, "You should be a teacher."
A few years later, that same teacher recruited the 2010 alumna to apply for a job opening at Catholic Central.
Now, Ms. Cuomo is much-loved by her students for her ability to bring history alive in the classroom.
"Ms. Cuomo makes the class very interactive, so you don't get bored," reported Brianna, an 11th-grader who's one of Ms. Cuomo's current students. "We even had a live-action war. We acted as if we were in the trenches and threw paper balls at each other."
The young teacher makes it a point to involve her students through different learning games and activities, and always rewards them; she has a "secret" candy drawer, and had pancake and pizza parties for her students this year.
It was always in Ms. Cuomo's mind that she might return to her alma mater to teach.
"I just liked the atmosphere of having the small classes and the close-knit school where you know everyone as you're walking down the hallway," she said.
Ms. Cuomo's family legacy of attending CCHS includes her grandmother, father, aunts, uncles and cousins. The fact that her students know she was once in their shoes makes for a natural connection.
"Ms. Cuomo's very personable, so it was easy for her to teach us and understand what she was saying," said Keeghan, a sophomore who was in Ms. Cuomo's advanced-placement (AP) world history class last year. "This was probably my favorite class last year. It was the best."
When teaching that subject, Ms. Cuomo often refers to what her students are learning in their theology classes, giving a multidisciplinary perspective.
"You can tell she does love what she's teaching. She has a passion for teaching it. And that makes her really good at explaining it and showing us," said Leah, a CCHS junior and former student of Ms. Cuomo's.
Leah is also in the school's social media club, which Ms. Cuomo started and runs.
Other Catholic Central teachers have looked after Ms. Cuomo as she navigates her first years of teaching at her alma mater. Another alumni faculty member down the hall, science teacher Kate Sedlak, leaves encouraging notes and little gifts at Ms. Cuomo's desk to mark memorable teaching moments.
Grateful for the teachers she had during her high school career at CCHS, Ms. Cuomo said that "coming back and doing it for others is kind of paying it forward."
One challenge was cited by both Mrs. Devine and Ms. Cuomo: In returning to their old schools as teachers, they had to learn to call their former teachers -- now colleagues -- by their first names.
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