''ALWAYS TRY SOMETHING NEW'

Constantly coming up with new and innovative ideas to keep her students engaged and motivated, Julie Reilly is entering her 13th year of teaching at All Saints Academy in Albany. As a first-grade teacher, Reilly says the growth she witnesses each year with her students is her favorite part of teaching. 

“They’re the ones inspiring me, I want to always try something new, I’m very into trying new projects, new ideas,” Reilly said, “You know, I don’t want to recycle everything the same every year. I like to see what we can do.”

Her dedication, commitment and creativity are just some of the reasons that Reilly is the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Distinguished Elementary School Teacher for the 2019-2020 school year. The award “honors a Catholic school teacher who has promoted a school’s Catholic educational vision and who has a strong awareness of a school’s Catholic identity and mission. The teacher is one who has demonstrated excellence in teaching skills and has a positive effect on the moral growth of students.”

This year at All Saints, Reilly was responsible for bringing a broadcasting class to the school through an enrichment program. The course, for fourth-graders and up, teaches students everything about the craft, including how to learn to set up a show, interview, write and record, as well as how to use a green screen and read a telepromp­ter. Students produced the first episode of “Saints Alive!” just before the Christmas break.

“They’re learning the technology with that and the goal is to get them to fully produce the show,” Reilly said. 

In previous years, Reilly has written and published books created by her class. Three years ago, she won a Studentreasures publishing national award for the alphabet book, “Journey Through Space.”

As a child, Reilly always dreamed of teaching. As a product of Catholic schools, she attended Holy Cross Elementary School, Bishop Maginn High School and then graduated from The College of Saint Rose. 

While in high school, Reilly was a three-sport athlete — playing basketball, volleyball and softball — and earning a spot in Maginn’s Hall of Fame. In college, she played basketball at Saint Rose. After graduating with her master’s degree, Reilly wasn’t ready to give the sport up. She started at Maginn as an assistant coach, then stayed eight years as head varsity coach there, before becoming assistant basketball coach at the Academy of the Holy Names. 

“I’ve been coaching right when I got out of school … I just wanted to give back in a different way,” Reilly said. 

The students remain her motivation, and while Reilly doesn’t have any children of her own, she imagines herself as a parent, and thinks about her nieces and nephews when approaching new ways to teach.

“They deserve the very best from me, from the school, from each other. I don’t have kids, but I think, ‘What would I want for my kids?’ ” Reilly said. “I would want someone who is always ready and excited about learning and compassionate; being there for them and helping them to grow.”