Erie1 BOCES Monthly Spotlight: April 2022
Hello,
We are excited to announce that this is our 2nd Monthly Spotlight. The purpose of this activity is for us to share information about ourselves, get to know our colleagues better, create meaningful connections, build relationships, create a strong sense of community, and celebrate our differences. Please consider participating by clicking and completing this E1B Staff Spotlight Submission Form. Thank you to everyone that has particpated so far, and submitted a form!
The information that you choose to provide will be included in the monthly Inside Story. Please only share information that you feel comfortable sharing publicly. Leave out any information that you prefer not to share.
Warm Regards,
The I.D.E.A Culture & Climate Subcommittee
Hello, my name is Megan King.
I work in Technology Services as a Coordinator. I am a Behavior Specialist with the West Regional Partnership @ E1B. We are grant-funded through the Office of Special Education at NYSED. We support districts cited by NYSED to improve outcomes for students with disabilities! Sometimes that means putting systems in place at the district level and sometimes that means working on the ground level to support a teacher. I have worked for BOCES now for 6.5 years. The best part of my job is my colleagues! I work with incredibly smart and supportive professionals.
I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. I am happily married with two boys.Those closest to me would probably describe me as outgoing and silly on my best days. I am passionate about advocating on behalf of students with disabilities. When asked, my husband described me as engaging, funny and brave. A fun & interesting fact about me is that I have taken up a healthy plant habit during COVID and now have over 40 plants in my house (I've only killed a few)! This hobby is manageable while raising two lively children.
Hello, my name is Michael Duffy, but please call me Mike! I'm named after my grandfather. There are actually four Michaels on my mom's side of the family so we have various nicknames.
I am currently in my 7th year at Erie 1 BOCES.I am a coordinator with the Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network (RBERN) West. I provide professional development, instructional coaching, and technical assistance to the 100+ school districts of WNY in support of ENL and Bilingual Education programs. I love working with teachers and students at all levels. Prior to this, I worked for Buffalo Public Schools as an ENL teacher in grades 2 and 4 as well as a district instructional coach.
I'm originally from a small town in CNY called Baldwinsville, which is just outside of Syracuse. I moved to Buffalo to attend UB and have made Buffalo my home ever since.I really enjoy gardening, kayaking, and taking walks in Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, which is walkable from my house. However, in the winter I like to stay inside and cook big meals for friends. At work you will definitely see the professional, diplomatic side of me. But my friends would describe me as someone who likes to have fun, laugh, and take care of others.
Stop by anytime and say hi to our team in Building C, Room 253!
Hello, my name is Mansel Wells.
I am in Technology Services. My office is in Allegany, New York and I am the CSLO/Model Schools planner for the 20 WNYRIC districts in the Cattaraugus-Allegany region. A lot of the WNYRIC services are also available from CA BOCES. This has freed up a lot of my time to be involved in internal E1B training. The best part of my job is having great people to work with. I have been very fortunate to have had supervisors who really care about people and provide support for what I do. Three months after I was hired back in 1996 I encountered cancer and had to be off for several months recovering from surgery and chemo treatments. Fifteen years later I experienced another surgery that required several months for recovery. In both of these situations, E1B was very supportive. The sick bank was a blessing. I have worked for Erie 1 BOCES for 25 years. I appreciate being able to work in such a wonderful organization! I have a deep faith in God and draw strength from Him daily and hope that my activities at Erie 1 BOCES reflect His values of integrity, compassion, and hard work.
I grew up in Smethport, Pennsylvania. After college, I taught high school mathematics in Vermont for 13 years. I have three sons and three grandsons. All are in the Rochester, New York area except for one son in Atlanta. We all follow the Boston Red Sox since that was the local team for Vermonters. Unfortunately, my oldest son married a Yankees fan but we try not to hold that against her. My wife, Cathy, and I are now empty nesters so we give a lot of attention to our golden retriever, Toby,, chocolate lab, Shilo, and cocker spaniel, Cooper. During the pandemic, Cathy and I were not able to get to the YMCA. We have since returned and I am in the process of building myself up so that I can once again run in 5K events. Over the past 10 years I have provided technology assistance to my wife as she earned her doctorate degree in nursing. She is currently a gastroenterology nurse practitioner at Olean General Hospital. She is constantly bringing home stories of patients experiencing liver disease as a result of alcohol use. Consequently, I try to warn people of the dangers that can sneak up on people from social drinking.
People would consider me an organized person. The biggest challenge is organizing my humor so that I don't repeat humorous stories. Not only that, but I also try not to repeat humorous stories.