Kim Sparkman, Principal of Innovative Programs for Questar III BOCES.
This September, the inaugural class of the new Questar III and HVCC STEM High School will take the first steps in their journey towards rewarding careers in tech, engineering, health and environmental sciences. Much work, effort and planning took place to make the new school a reality; its principal – Kim Sparkman – was there from the beginning.
“Recognizing that I love developing new programs, I started to get involved in the planning phase of our new high school at Hudson Valley Community College. I’ve served on the steering committee from the start and moved into a more active role in building these programs last March,” Sparkman said. In July, she was appointed Principal of Innovative Programs for Questar III BOCES, which includes serving as the head of the newly formed STEM high school, as well as New Visions programs located throughout Rensselaer and Albany counites.
Sparkman says she is incredibly motivated and excited by her work at the new school. “It’s an opportunity to take my ideas about what a school should be and make them a reality. I bring with me the lessons I’ve learned in behavioral health and as a teacher in both suburban and urban settings. Our aim is to build a school that serves as a true bridge for students between high school and college or their careers,” she explained.
Originally from Oneonta, NY, Sparkman attended SUNY Oswego, where she earned BA degrees in History and Anthropology. During college, she spent time studying abroad in Belize and Mexico. After college, Sparkman moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she worked in adult out-patient behavioral health services as a case manager for a year. “I missed History and was interested in teaching, so I returned to New York,” she said, where she enrolled at Ithaca College and earned a Master of Adolescent Teaching as well as her NYS teaching certificate in Social Studies, grades 7-12.
Sparkman taught for three years at Ithaca High School before moving to Manhattan and teaching at a STEM high school in the South Bronx for five years. She noted, “It was while teaching in the South Bronx that I felt compelled to go into school leadership. I saw areas in public education where improvements could be made and felt I needed to be in leadership in order to advocate for those changes.” During this time, she earned a Master’s in School Leadership from Hunter College.
After giving birth to her daughter, Sparkman and her husband moved to Syracuse, NY, to be closer to family. She took a position as Assistant Principal of Career and Technical Education at CiTi BOCES in Oswego County. A year later, she and her family moved to Albany and she joined Questar III BOCES, where she was hired as Career and Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator. “In this role, I oversaw our off-site programs, all of the New Visions programs and Heavy Equipment in Durham. I also gathered data for CTE to be reported to the state and maintained the Perkins grant,” Sparkman said. She also worked closely with Chief Academic Officer Anthony Taibi to add two additional New Visions programs to Questar III’s offerings.
Sparkman lives in Bethlehem, NY, with her husband and two young children, where they enjoy going to the town pool, farmers market, and biking together.
To learn more about the Questar III and HVCC STEM High School, click here.
