Catie Magil G’07, G’16
December 14, 2021 · Classroom Heroes
Pursuing a master’s degree in school psychology was a backup plan for Magil after she realized she didn’t want to work toward her doctorate in clinical psychology. But she quickly fell in love with the field. She got her start in the City School District of Albany, later worked in Saratoga Springs, earned advanced certificates in school business leader and school district leader at Saint Rose in the midst of it all, and recently started a new job with the Scotia-Glenville Central School District.
How did your experience at Saint Rose prepare you for the field?
The coursework really prepared me for working with a range of students. I remember taking a lot of courses related to diversity, which certainly is a big focus now. But 15 years ago, it was not as much of a focus. I remember taking a lot of courses on diversity and really kind of immersing yourself in situations where you need to be almost a little bit uncomfortable to force you to feel certain things and experience things from a diff erent lens. So, I feel like the coursework really helped prepare me to work with students in a school setting.
What keeps you in the field?
There’s such a high rate at which educators are leaving the field right now. What keeps me in this field? You know, there’s always a challenge. COVID-19 certainly was one of the greatest challenges to ever face – and probably that we ever will face – in the world of education. But the challenges are what continues to drive me, in terms of the decisions and the leadership. That’s really a huge driving force in terms of the ability to impact just such a large group of students, and not just students but teachers and families. And that’s what it’s really about.
