When Kelly Hogan talks about her kids it can be confusing. Is she referring to her family (two boys and a girl who have graduated from Cornwall) or is she telling you about her students? In a way it doesn’t matter, because she considers both groups important.
It’s what you’d expect from the person the CCTA (Cornwall Central Teachers Association) selected as its Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Hogan learned of the award after receiving an email asking for her cell phone number.
She provided the information without being suspicious. And she was still in the dark when Cynthia Klein called her later in the day. The news that followed was unexpected.
A week later the honoree was still trying to deal with the surprise. “My kids had great teachers in Cornwall,” she told us — this time referring to her family. “And I had great mentors from the day I started.”
The inference was that she considered many people to be equally or better qualified, but she was still grateful to the colleagues who had nominated her.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” Mrs. Hogan reflected. “I played school as a kid. But there were no teaching jobs available when I was in college.”
So she started in Human Resource Management; left work after the birth of her second child, and later obtained a master’s degree in education from Mount Saint Mary.
She came to Cornwall-on-Hudson as a student teacher in 2003, and was fortunate to work with Mary Ann McCarthy and (later) Jane McDonald. When it was time to apply for a permanent position, she taught a lesson dressed up as a detective. She felt like a “deer in headlights,” but she got the job.
In 2007, she moved to Willow Avenue, where she now teaches second grade. Her class recently entered a pilot program with Chromebooks. It was a challenge for the teacher as well as the students. But Mrs. Hogan considered that a good thing. “We all need to continue to learn and grow,” she explained. “The program gave me a chance to model that for the children.”
“The district has been very good to me,” Mrs. Hogan continued. “I’m someone who likes to go to work. I get upset at the end of the school year.”
This June, however, the Teacher of the Year will be a little less upset. Her students have the option of “looping up,” which means they could stay with her for third grade. And nothing could make her happier.
