THE EXTRA MILE

When Ann McCarthy was working in the chemistry labs at St. Peter’s, teaching was the furthest thing from her mind.

But little did McCarthy know that what she was doing was laying the foundation for what she was meant to do: a two-decades long career teaching math, chemistry and science in the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Albany.

“One of the jobs in the lab was they always had people who were good at their job train the new people.  … I was training the new employees on how to take equipment apart, put it back together; how to analyze blood, cell tissue, anything,” said McCarthy, who worked at St. Peter’s for 12 years. “Somebody had said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about getting into teaching because you train so well, you explain so well.’ And I am like, ‘No.’” 

That ‘no,’ however, soon turned to ‘yes’ for McCarthy, who took a leave of absence from St. Peter’s to take a long-term substitute position in the Gloversville Central School District in 2001. From there she was hired by Sister Kate Arsenault to work at Catholic Central High School where she spent 16 years teaching math, science and chemistry. And for the last five years, McCarthy has been the middle-school science teacher (6-7-8 grades) at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, as well as the head of the science department. It is because of her work ethic, dedication to her job and willingness to volunteer that McCarthy has been named the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Distinguished Secondary School Teacher Award winner this year. 

“I was shocked. I had no idea that it was happening,” McCarthy said. “I remember Mr. (Richard) Harrigan getting it last year and I knew it was around this time. I figured not me. It’s an honor. (NDBG Principal Kiante) Jones and Mickie (Baldwin, director of Development & Advancement) said I was one of the first names that came up.”

Baldwin said McCarthy was an easy choice.

“It was a no-brainer,” Baldwin said. “She not only is the ultimate professional and is a resource for our science department, but she is the first to volunteer in this building. If we have a fundraiser for a jeans day, she is going to donate the extra dollar so somebody who can’t participate, can participate. She is always coming up with ideas to make our events better.”

Jones agreed.

“Ann has a wonderful rapport with all of her students. Her ability to connect with her students and her talent at teaching simple concepts, as well as more advanced topics, are both truly superior,” Jones wrote in nominating McCarthy for the award. “ … Ann is a tireless advocate for our students and school community.”

In the classroom, McCarthy, who grew up part of a big Catholic family (six brothers and sisters) in Coxsackie, takes tremendous pride in preparing her students in every way for the big jump into ninth grade.

“The kids have to be pushed more because they don’t have a vision of the future. (They ask) ‘Why does Ms. McCarthy keep saying do this homework assignment? Do I really need to do it?’ ” she said. “... But you can’t go from doing nothing in sixth, seventh and eighth grade to being structured in ninth grade. 

“Our job as middle-school teachers, I feel we wear many hats. It is not always to teach the content; life skills, a shoulder to cry on, trying to break up disagreements between kids. I feel blessed that they can come to me as a teacher ,but our jobs aren’t just teachers anymore.”

In volunteering, the students and their parents get to see another side of McCarthy.

“I think working at these events, it's definitely a way to know the parents and know the kids better,” McCarthy said. “And the kids see us in a different light, they see us out of the classroom, they don’t see us as a teacher. They are like, ‘Wow, she is human.’ She does things other than constantly give us homework and quizzes and tests.”

Whether it is the Golden Gallop, the Junior Ring Ceremony or the Junior-Senior prom, McCarthy has been instrumental in coming up with innovative ideas to make sure these key social events happen - even during a time of pandemic.  

For the ring ceremony, having something in-person was a challenge: “We were told we can’t have it in-person. I said we have to come up with something.”

McCarthy used the school’s gym, put families in pods, and spaced them out in semicircles. There were individual cupcakes and the event was livestreamed. The junior-senior prom was held just for seniors and McCarthy was able to find a venue - River Stone Manor in Schenectady - which was not a small accomplishment during a pandemic.

“The seniors when (we) called them in to let them know, the girls were ecstatic,” she said. “It was last minute but we made it happen.”

Such dedication also extends to her children. While her daughter, Kyra, is in college, McCarthy is busy ferrying her son, Connor - a freshman at Mohonasen - to his baseball, basketball, soccer and flag football games.

“As I get older, I am more exhausted … but I think what keeps pushing me is the kids need me. They need that structure,” said McCarthy, who is a parishioner at St. Madeleine Sophie. “Sometimes those kids, school’s the only thing they have because of their lives at home. They need that adult in the building (where they say) ‘Yeah, she cares.’ … I don’t know how to be selfish or how to say this is me-time. If they need somebody to step up and say how do we make this better, I will probably be one of the first people to do that.”

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