Love is the most important lesson for Schenectady educator

hen students enter Colleen Keough’s second grade classroom at Hamilton Elementary School in Schenectady, they know they are coming into a space where they are loved. In fact, it hangs on the classroom wall.

“Before they leave this class, we always say, ‘I love you. You matter. You can do anything. And I believe in you,’” said Keough. “I just think it’s important for them to feel self-worth.”

Within the walls of the school, Keough is known as an anchor point: a person around whom the entire building orbits. Nowhere is that seen more than in her efforts to revive the school identity and mascot — the Husky.

“Everybody knows Ms. Keough,” said Patty Wood, an instructional coach at Hamilton Elementary. “The kids know Ms. Keough. And I think across the district, people know, not only who Colleen Keough is, but that Colleen Keough is a Hamilton Husky. And will probably be for the rest of her career.”

Keough has brought back the Husky mascot in a big way, from helping acquire a costume for pep rallies to signage throughout the building to make the hallways of Hamilton feel more like home. Even the students get in on the theme, howling in response to “Where are my Huskies at?”

That sense of community at Hamilton is felt strongest in Keough’s classroom, where every year she makes, and serves, her students a Thanksgiving dinner that combines traditional fixings with other foods from across the globe.

“She asks the kids, ‘What do you celebrate with? What do you have?’” said Jennifer Paley, academic intervention specialist. “And it might be different from others, but she will make all of those foods. And she sets up all the desks together, like a big long table, with tablecloths and all the food so the kids can all share and talk about their own traditions and experiences around the Thanksgiving table.”

“I wanted them to experience that,” said Keough. “So that even if they didn’t have it at home, or if they did have it at home, we’re still a family too, so we should have Thanksgiving dinner together.”

“The Schenectady Federation of Teachers is proud to once again have one of our members named NYS Teacher of the Year,” said Michael Silvestri, local president. “Colleen Keough personifies a Schenectady educator. An expert in the whole child approach, she makes learning interesting and fun by making it personal to each and every one of her students. Beyond the classroom Colleen can often be seen working late nights on special events for her students. She is an instructional leader who is always there to lend support to her fellow educators. Every person that has been a student or colleague of hers has been positively affected by her love of the profession.”

“I think when the kids see how much she cares about them, not just in school but out in the community, they know that she is somebody they can go to and she’s somebody that will always have their back,” said Paley.

“Colleen always has a policy of ‘we’re a family,’” said Wood. “So everyone that comes into her classroom is part of the family and that’s a priority, that they understand they belong at school. They belong in her classroom.”

Keough had turned down being Schenectady Teacher of the Year previously. But when she saw the nomination letters that students had written for her, she changed her mind and said if she was ever nominated again, she would accept. Now, she’s the 2025 New York State Teacher of the Year.

“I don’t know if they’ll remember everything we did in second grade,” she said. “But I’ll always want them to remember that they are important and they are loved.”