Marilyn Noonan

Questar III Board of Education Member Marilyn Noonan has served for 25 years, working with leadership to contribute to the future of public education.

You’ve been a Questar III board member for 25 years! Why did you join the board in 1988? And what motivates you to continue to serve?
I was serving as President of the Catskill Board of Education when a vacancy was opened on what was then called the Rensselaer Columbia Greene (RCG) BOCES Board.  The agreement that led to Greene County joining the Rensselaer and Columbia counties meant that two representatives from Greene County must serve on the BOCES board. Seph Garland was Coxsackie’s representative and I was nominated from the Catskill Board to run. I was elected and have truly enjoyed my service with an extraordinary group of colleagues – all of whom have also been board presidents or vice presidents.

A BOCES works very different than a local school board.  You feel more involved, closer to the decision makers.  BOCES are very dynamic organizations as they are constantly responding to what is happening in public education by providing regional – and in Questar III’s case – statewide leadership. As a board member, you are always learning something new.  That is the real attraction for me.  I learn something new at just about every meeting.

You serve on the operating board for Tech Valley High School® as well. What is your motivation here?
My motivation is to contribute to the future of public education. We must reshape and build our schools and their instructional programs and strategies to respond to the needs of today’s children – who come to school with very different life experiences than students did a decade ago.

Essentially our schools still function on a factory-based model which served us well for decades – but times have changed, technology is pervasive, we live in an information age. Students need to know how to learn and function effectively in our high-tech world and earn a living in this global economy.

Creating Tech Valley was a long, exciting process. The concept was to make sure that our educational system had a model that would reflect what the residents of this region will need to know and the skills they will need to possess in the future. The school is founded on the premise that our economic future is tied to emerging technologies and students should have the opportunity to learn in an environment where they get to apply knowledge to real-life Tech Valley issues.

Any change in the educational process is difficult and arduous, to say the least. But this was so new, so exciting, and so different that I felt I had to be a part of the support and leadership that was creating a model of public education for the future.  We built support from the ground up in the educational, business and government sectors through a cooperative effort from Capital Region BOCES and Questar III. Now it is a true success story.  The enthusiasm of the Tech Valley students, their commitment to and engagement in learning and the culture they’ve created speaks volumes for its success.

Tech Valley High School® is about making sure students are engaged in learning – and it works. I love being a part of it.

What are some of your goals as a Questar III board member?
I have a few primary goals:

• Ensuring that our public education system, which is the foundation of our representative democracy, is sustained and thrives.  The BOCES helps do that in numerous ways.
• Positioning the BOCES to help expand educational opportunities throughout the region – Tech Valley High, CTE and Special Education programs do just that.
• Ensuring the BOCES and our school districts improve existing educational programs through professional development and analysis of student achievement data.
• Giving our 22 component school districts a place and a vehicle for collaborating with each other to achieve efficient use of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Where do you see Questar III in 10 years?
The pace of change is so rapid – 10 years out is going to come at us very fast. I believe Questar III has equipped itself to address that pace of change through the many, varied collaborations with school districts, other BOCES, colleges and universities, and businesses it has developed over the past decade.

We are collaborators in a world where connections and networking matter – and are required for survival and lead to success.

In 10 years there will be many more Tech Valley Highs in local districts and throughout the state. There will be a greater centralization of business and back-office operations at the BOCES level. Our CTE programs will be part of pathways from middle school through high school to college and career. Our students will have opportunities to be dual enrolled in high school level CTE and college. Part of our instruction will be delivered online in hybrid models where students spend part of their time onsite and the other part in their home schools.

The work we’re doing today will bear fruit. We’ve worked with school districts to improve instruction and will be graduating seniors who have had the benefit of a common core education, with a greater promise of success in college and careers. That will make it all worthwhile!

As a board member, what has been some of your proudest endeavors?
What matters to me are the accomplishments that we see on the personal, human scale. We work with some of the most vulnerable populations in our region and what I am most proud of about my work at Questar III is the humanity of the place and the people who work there. Students of all backgrounds and stations are embraced when they come through the door and are welcomed into what is such a nurturing culture. I love the level of acceptance and comfort it brings to students who have not previously enjoyed this kind of school experience.

Of course I am proud of all of the big accomplishments – those that get headlines and win us recognition, awards and kudos and saving money – but it’s the quiet, personal victories we help these students achieve through our teachers and teaching assistants and related services staff that I am most proud of and cherish the most.

In your opinion, what is the best part about being a Questar III board member?
Two things:

• The chance to contribute to the richness of educational experiences we offer our students in the region.
• The opportunity I have had to serve with a group of incredible public servants who have come to our board with the most noble of intentions.

In my 25 years I have never felt that one of my colleagues was there to advance their own agenda – we decide on the basis what is best for the students in the region. We do put the students first.

Tell us about your life outside of the Questar III Board of Education
I have had a wonderful life. My husband and I are blessed with sons and lifelong family relationships and friendships. We live in the Catskill area – the magnificent Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountains are within an easy drive from our home. One of our sons resides locally and one on Long Island. We are incredibly proud grandparents and so happy to have our grandchildren nearby.  I have been retired from a position at the New York State Professional Firefighters Association for a number of years and have maintained a very active life since then.