By Barbara Lockard
In 2015, Dusty Donley decided to make a giant career leap. The 1996 Ada High School graduate began the process that would take him from the typically male world of the local hardware store, to teaching 7-year-old girls how to add, subtract and not irritate each other!
Donley worked at Keith’s Hardware Store, Ada, while earning a bachelor’s degree in communication from Ohio Northern University. He wanted to stay in the area, so when the store offered him the manager’s position after his graduation in 2000, he accepted.
“That position lasted more than 20 years,” he said.
When Donley’s wife Jenny became pregnant, he began to think about a career change to something with friendlier hours. “I wanted to be able to spend time with my child,” he added.
Teaching had always been in the back of his mind, so in January 2015 at age 36 he enrolled full-time in ONU’s College of Education. He continued to work 30-35 hours per week at the store.
“I remember my first class,” he recalled. “I knew I was older than our professor. When she began asking all of us what year we were in and how old we were, the student next to me said, ‘Just how old ARE you man?’” Soon, though, he found that he was beginning to act and feel like a regular college student.
Donley had decided he wanted to teach 2nd grade for various reasons.
“The kids are old enough so that you don’t have to hold their hands, yet they’re young enough that they don’t want to disappoint their teacher. They still have open minds and you are able to guide them.”
He began in the Kindergarten-Grade 3 (K-3) program and was advised that adding grades 4 and 5 would make him more marketable. After graduating in 2018 he spent the entire summer looking for a teaching job. He wanted to stay within driving distance of Ada, so his options were somewhat limited. Just when Donley had resigned himself to substitute teaching, an acquaintance told him the Vanlue School District was seeking a 2nd grade teacher.
“I applied, interviewed and was hired just nine days before the start of the 2018-19 school year,” he remembered.
Four is a Handful
Vanlue is a small school system and Donley’s first class had only six students enrolled. Two moved from the area, so his classroom population dropped to four…. all girls!
“A very small class has a different set of challenges,” he stated. “I’d rather have 22 kids than just four.”
A big challenge was filling time.
“You have a lesson that should take an hour and with just four students, it takes 20 minutes. You always need a Plan B,” he laughed.
Sometimes the girls would get on each other’s nerves and he would need to do some creative problem solving. Still, he found that he loved his job and was passionate about teaching.
This school year Donley’s class size nearly tripled to 11 girls AND boys. Currently, he’s teaching nine students. He finds that boys have changed the dynamic of his classroom and that planning lessons and projects “scratches his creative itch.”
Are 7 and 8-year-olds any different today than they were when he was that age?
“I think teachers need to find more ways to incorporate technology into the classroom just to keep the kids challenged,” he added. “Today’s students do seem more mature, but they have the same questions and problems that we did.”
Donley feels his change of careers has improved his quality of life, and, with his wife working for ONU, their schedules are more compatible. He’s able to spend more time with his son, Myles, now 4.
“I think coming into education as a second career has given me a different perspective,” he added. “I’ve found that my past experience in retail has been beneficial. At the hardware store, I constantly had to deal with people from every walk of life. This has been really helpful in the classroom.”
Does he recommend teaching to other second-career seekers?
“If you’re even thinking about making a change, do it,” he said. “I laugh all day and love everything about my job. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
