Livingston: “Child at Heart,” Adored by Students and Friends

By Hailey Lotz

March 18, 2022

Her eyes glued to the screen, Mrs. Livingston sat captivated by what she considered an enthralling, emotional rollercoaster: Big Hero 6. She decided to treat her anatomy class to a movie day, letting them vote on the film. Upon hearing that she’s never seen Big Hero 6, the class insisted she play it. A look of extreme concern and concentration occupied her features for the next forty minutes as she transitioned from fits of laughter to a state on the verge of tears. As one student put it, “She’s literally in love with the movie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person go through so many emotions before.”

Everything that Mrs. Livingston encounters, she cares about deeply: her hobbies, her students, her family, even Disney cartoons. Her students describe her as understanding, kind, and compassionate, and they especially like how she always treats them with respect. Nia Banks, one of her anatomy students, explained, “She actually listens to her students and takes our input.”

Aiman Shahzad, citing anatomy as her favorite class of the day, said, “She’s very nice and is always making us smile.”

In class, her compelling personality always keeps her students engaged. “She’s kind of crazy in a good way,” Shahzad explained.

Born and raised in Voorheesville, New York, Mrs. Livingston was extremely active as a kid; from sports, to the flute, to biology class, her passions spread across all areas. She tried soccer, tennis, bowling, and dance in her younger years, but decided to play basketball in high school. However, this time was limited as she was hesitant about team sports. She said, “I’m always afraid that- in all of my adult life too- I’m afraid I’m going to let people down. I didn’t like the whole team thing because I was so afraid I was going to miss the basket and let the team down.” As a happy medium, she began cheerleading junior and senior year.

Interestingly, Mrs. Livingston and Mr. Ruane, another CCHS teacher, went to the same high school together. They often were in contact as Mrs. Livingston became friends with Mr. Ruane’s best friend, who is now her husband.

When asked to describe her in high school, Mr. Ruane said, “It was really easy to mess with her in high school just because she was so naive, she was so gullible.” One of his favorite memories with Mrs. Livingston is when he was able to convince her that she was holding the capital “H” upside down during a cheerleading performance in front of an entire gymnasium, effectively mortifying her.

After high school, Mrs. Livingston decided to go to Marist College on a pre-med track, likely inspired by her mom’s nursing profession. However, she decided to take a year off upon learning that medicine wasn’t for her. As she put it, “The nurse looked at me and said you’re turning green, so I had to leave, and that was the end of that.”

During this year off, she began subbing in schools and fell in love with it. She then decided to attend Le Moyne for graduate school, graduating in 2007. That same year, Mrs. Livingston got married and moved back to Voorheesville.

Now, Mrs. Livingston’s biggest commitment is to her two daughters: Violet, six years old, and Mary-Grace, nine years old. With gymnastics, dance, and lacrosse, she is busy most nights bringing her daughters from one activity to the next.

Mr. Ruane spoke about her becoming a parent, saying, “I think it’s interesting that I can see, both with her and her husband, one of my best friends, to see them now as parents. So to look back and think, these two are going to wind up together, and more importantly, they’re going to be responsible for raising two girls, that to me is absolutely nuts. But just a tremendous job she has done. I think I’ve seen her age gracefully,” he adds, “I don’t know if I’ve seen her mature though.”

When she has free time, Livingston enjoys watching Grey’s Anatomy, The Real Housewives, and New Amsterdam, among others, but she especially enjoys watching Good Luck Charlie with her daughters. Mrs. Livingston has also continued her commitment to exercise, and she enjoys going on jogs. Additionally, she loves dancing, although she says she’s not very good at it. One of her favorite things to do is to turn up the music in her car and have dance parties with her two daughters.

Even though she would love to travel more, already having taken trips to Aruba and wanting to visit Italy and Bora Bora, Mrs. Livingston plans on staying in Voorheesville and working at Colonie. She explained, “I love the people I work with, I absolutely adore them, so I’m still going to be here working.”

The epitome of the phrase, “a child at heart,” Mrs. Livingston has held on to her youth-like spirit, even wanting to open a toy store after retirement. She described her ideal store to be similar to the Hucklebuckle Toy Store from Santa Paws.

Mr. Ruane describes this unique personality throughout the past approximately 25 years he’s known her as constant, an indicator that she’s “incredibly secure in her own skin.” He adds, “Now, whether she has a strong sense of self or she’s just gullible and naive perpetually I’m still not sure, but it’s been incredible to age with her, to grow up with her.”