{"id":601,"date":"2023-09-26T15:21:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T15:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=601"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:48:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:48:59","slug":"alumna-reflects-on-importance-of-wcsu-education-in-her-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2023\/09\/26\/alumna-reflects-on-importance-of-wcsu-education-in-her-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna reflects on importance of WCSU education in her life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dorothy

Dorothy Killackey<\/p><\/div>\n

As she approaches the age of 100, Brewster, New York, resident Dorothy Killackey has a lot of history to look back upon. So, when she heard Western Connecticut State University<\/a> was celebrating its 120th<\/sup> birthday and was soliciting alumni stories, she felt compelled to reach out and share hers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am now 96 years old, and have been actively involved in several careers and several community activities since receiving my M.S. in Science in 1971, as well as my Sixth Year Professional Degree in Counseling in 1980, both Cum Laude from WCSU,\u201d Killackey wrote. \u201cSince receiving my Sixth Year Professional Degree, I have used my education, my intellect, my self-directed ambition toward important endeavors, not only to support my four children, but to improve my schools\u2019 as well as my community\u2019s knowledge with a better reading curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Killackey\u2019s WCSU master\u2019s degree came 23 years after receiving her B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College at Columbia University in 1948. She earned her Sixth Year degree from WCSU at the age of 53.<\/p>\n

She was a teacher in New Hampshire Public Schools in the early 1950s, taught in the Brewster Public Schools from 1966 through 1989, and began to share her knowledge in teachers\u2019 workshops in the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n

Killackey\u2019s efforts to expand literacy and appreciation of local history have resulted in numerous accolades and awards through the years. Among them, Pi State of Alpha Omicron Sorority awarded her the Jeannette Johnson Teaching Award (1972), and the Brewster School District named her the Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year in 1974 and 1989.<\/p>\n

Her relationship with WCSU remained central to her career, and in 1975-76, Killackey was asked by then-WCSU Professor Dr. Ruth Allen to present \u201cAn Independent Study on Dyslexia\u201d to WCSU Education students. In 1979, she received a Recognition Award from Allen at the WCSU Honors Convocation, and in the same year received the Nancy Barrelle Memorial Scholarship to continue her university studies.<\/p>\n

Killackey was initiated into the Phi Delta Kappa National Educators Fraternity at WCSU for research, service and leadership in 1980. In 1982, she received the Jeannette Johnson Pi State Scholarship Award in New York State.<\/p>\n

In 1991, Killackey was included in \u201cWho\u2019s Who of American Women,\u201d and in 1992 she was included in \u201cWho\u2019s Who in American Education.\u201d She also received the Delta Kappa Gamma Women\u2019s Sorority Alpha Omicron Chapter Lolobel Hall Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Killackey taught in the elementary grades at the John F. Kennedy School in Brewster while she pursued her graduate degree at WCSU. As a result of her graduate work, she was invited by the New York State Teachers\u2019 Association to conduct teachers\u2019 workshops, and was also invited to local school districts to share her knowledge about \u201cLearning Disabilities, Their Diagnoses and Remediations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the school\u2019s English Liaison, Killackey edited and compiled yearly editions of a writing anthology, showcasing the best examples of poetry and prose of the school\u2019s students. She also served as the Teacher\u2019s Union President of her school, and was a member of the St. Lawrence O\u2019Toole School board for two years. For a decade, she taught in the Title I Summer School Program at the John F. Kennedy School.<\/p>\n

Her emphasis on education never wavered, and she established the Killackey Scholarship for Graduating Brewster Seniors before her retirement. She also funded a writing contest for St. Lawrence O\u2019Toole seventh and eighth graders before leaving teaching for a 12-year real estate career that earned her the title of Million Dollar Sales Agent several times.<\/p>\n

In her community, Killackey was named Senior Citizen of the Year in 1999 by the Putnam County Office for the Aging, in recognition of the 40+ citizens\u2019 biographies she penned. The wide variety of community organizations that have benefitted from her time and talents and have acknowledged the same with awards are too numerous to mention.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, Killackey has written bi-weekly columns in The Putnam Times\/Press called \u201cMusings\u201d and \u201cAfterthoughts.\u201d They are now published and available on Amazon, along with her book, \u201cFollow the \u2018Dot\u2019 (Life\u2019s Path With a 94-year-old).\u201d<\/p>\n

Killackey said, \u201cI believe my story is proof that WCSU was an important link in my life, and my education there has benefited numerous groups of people, as well as enriched and encouraged my life\u2019s path.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As she approaches the age of 100, Brewster, New York, resident Dorothy Killackey has a lot of history to look back upon. So, when she heard Western Connecticut State University was celebrating its 120th birthday and was soliciting alumni stories, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}