September 20, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.
'ONE LARGE FAMILY'
TE: You are a longtime Catholic school educator. Can you talk about your background?
DO: This is year 36 for me. I started at St. Augustine’s in Lansingburgh, teaching kindergarten. I taught kindergarten for a total of 25 years there and then I taught third grade for three years. When St. Augustine’s closed, I was lucky enough to come here to St. Kateri and I taught third grade for most of my time here, other than the year that I was doing all the online teaching from COVID. We came back that September, but some of our parents chose to remain remote, so I remotely taught kindergarten through fifth grade. It was a very challenging year. Last year I was the assistant principal here.
TE: In all your years as an educator, did you ever want to be in administration?
DO: I did not. I did the online teaching for a year and then went back to third grade for a year and at the end of the year, they asked if I would take over the assistant job because the assistant wanted to become more of a reading teacher.
TE: How was that experience as assistant principal?
DO: It was wonderful. I think I was very supportive and helped out getting things done for the students. I planned field trips for every grade in the school, taking the older grades to the Boston Museum of Science in June. I took over a lot of the computer jobs, making sure attendance was sent to the business office and taking care of NYS testing. I worked with the teachers on developing a curriculum guide for science and math.
TE: Were you surprised that Tosha Grimmer, former principal, stepped down?
DO: I was totally shocked. She was a wonderful principal. I have very big shoes to fill.
TE: Were you offered the principal spot right away?
DO: They came and asked and I declined thinking I would be more supportive in the assistant role. I am getting closer to retirement and I didn’t know if I had the skill-set to do a principal’s job. But after speaking with Father Bob (Longobucco), he assures me that with my years of experience I do. I look forward to working in this new capacity with Father Bob, the families and most importantly with the students.
TE: Is the Catholic faith important in our life?
DO: Yes it is. My children went through Catholic elementary school and it prepared them well for middle school and high school. It is something that I truly believe in. This is especially true with some of the students that we have here. Bringing God into their life is so important because many come from troubled and disadvantaged homes. I find it very important to make the students feel like they are part of a family. That’s what St. Kateri is, one large family.
TE: Can you talk about the amazing diversity of your student body?
DO: I think that the earlier we start diversity training — that God made everybody different but that inside we are all the same — it’s going to make the world a better place in the long run and perhaps it will stop some of the racial discriminations that are going on in the world. If they see diversity as a positive thing, hopefully that will carry over into their adult life.
TE: Have you made any changes yet?
DO: I think right now it is status quo, like it was last year. I am just getting my footing and getting in here and carrying on what Tosha has started. In her leadership, the school has grown even after COVID. We are busting at the seams here with our enrollment. Every grade is totally full right now, except for pre-K where we have one or two students that decided not to come at the last moment. We just opened a third nursery room that we had not had.
TE: Why do you think St. Kateri is growing so much right now?
DO: We live by our mission statement of “Welcoming all to joyfully nurture each student in knowledge and faith.” We believe that we educate the “whole child.” I think parents know that when their children come here, they are safe and that they are well cared for. We provide for them in more than just their academic needs. We provide families with financial assistance, guidance and often with food. This year, all the children are going to receive free lunch and breakfast and an afternoon snack for our after-school program. And we run a before-school and after-school program which wraps around for parents. That is very helpful in the working world when you have two parents out there working. Their child is still safe here until 6 o’clock at night.
TE: Do you have a motto, saying or biblical passage that you fall back on?
DO: Kind words can be short and easy but their echoes are truly endless — Mother Teresa.
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