After 26 years with the Averill Park Central School District, and 32 total years of teaching, Laurence (Larry) Quinn, a professional in the field of Special Education, is set to retire on Oct. 4, 2024.
Quinn was born and raised in Long Island, New York, and received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Albany and his master’s degree from Russell Sage College in Troy, NY. He has lived in the Capital Region since 1983 and is grateful for his experience with the District.
Quinn recalled a specific eye-opening interaction with a retired teacher, Doug VanVleet, where VanVleet was explaining to Quinn how a specific student was struggling in the classroom due to commitments at home with cutting firewood to keep their house warm.
“For that particular family, the priority was that the kid needed to be doing something important for his family, and school was forced to take a backseat to that. It made me realize, as it made him (VanVleet) realize, that we don’t always acknowledge, even though we should, that the particular school assignment on that particular day is not that kid’s number one priority,” Quinn said. “Kids have different lives outside of school… what’s going on in my classroom isn’t necessarily the most important thing in that kid’s life, and in order to pick up the signal of ‘hey, I’m having a problem’, or ‘this isn’t my biggest priority right now’, you have to be aware of that and keep that in your mind. This kid is dealing with something that is clearly more important than whatever you’re trying to teach them. They have something else on their plate, and that was a revelation.”
From content-focused consultant teaching, serving as the Averill Park Teachers Association union president from 2004-08, working in a resource room with students, spending time as an advisor to the Key Club and coaching modified wrestling and assistant coaching Cross Country, Quinn has left a profound impact on the students he interacted with for over two decades.
“I’ve done a lot of things and worn a lot of hats, as people like to say,” Quinn said.
The education field is described as a “family business” by Quinn, as his father served as an elementary school principal and two of his nine siblings are also teachers. Quinn’s advice for future educators is to develop a health work-life balance and to get out of their comfort zones.
“I would advise new teachers to keep on top of new technology. I would also advise new teachers to get involved in new things,” Quinn said. “You don’t have to coach three sports, but there are other ways to get involved in a student’s life.”
As he prepares for retirement, Quinn looks forward to spending more time with his 90-year-old mother, his wife and three children while keeping up with his hobby of restoring old furniture and traveling across the United States.
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