Michele Doodian has worked for the Averill Park Central School District for 30 years and will retire at the end of June.
Mrs. Doodian was originally hired as a Special Education teacher at Miller Hill-Sand Lake Elementary School in 1991. In 2000, she moved to general education and began teaching a Kindergarten/First Grade classroom at George Washington to address an enrollment increase, eventually settling into a first grade teacher role. When the George Washington building closed in 2010, Mrs. Doodian transferred to Poestenkill Elementary School, where she has remained since.
“Prior to coming to AP, I taught for many years at St. Colman’s in the Autistic program,” she said. “It was an important first step in my teaching career, however, I began to realize I wanted a change and the natural progression for me was to seek a job in a public school system.”
In addition to earning a degree in education, Mrs. Doodian also majored in sociology.
“I have always believed that everyone is entitled to a good education regardless of their socio-economic circumstances,” she said. “I will always champion public education and will work in retirement to ensure its continued funding and legislation to protect our children’s right to a free and appropriate learning experience.”
Mrs. Doodian has many happy memories, including Spring enrichment activities and putting on the kindergarten Children Around the World and Dinosaur plays at MHSL; bringing the entire school to Sturbridge Village; watching a rock quarry explosion with her first graders at George Washington; planning the annual Veteran’s Day celebrations at GW and PES; and seeing the band Flame perform at Poestenkill.
“I will miss teaching young children how to read, listening to their voices when they are singing or laughing, and their enthusiasm and energy when presented with new experiences,” she stated. “I am reminded of this classic quote when thinking about my retirement plans: ‘I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.’”
