Richardson Balances School, Life and Travel

By Alex Newcomb

March 18, 2022

Mrs. Richardson was in the library to check out multiple books when I approached her to ask if she was available for an interview. Without hesitation she said “Let’s do it!”. We jumped into the conversation talking about what kind of books she enjoys reading. She loves true crime, mysteries, horror, and is always reading about history and updating herself so when she does pleasure reading she doesn't want anything to do with history. She explained that she uses the literary world to escape her daily life as a history teacher.

Richardson grew up in Brooklyn, New York with a younger and older sister. As a child she was goofy, and always wanted to know more. She went to high school, in Manhattan, across from city hall, which greatly influenced her political aspirations.

While in high school, Richardson got an internship with the mayor. This fueled her desire to be a politician. “It was for the first and only black mayor of NYC so at the time that felt special for me because I could see myself in the leadership.” she said. Although Richardson never became a politician, she's still a leader within the school.

After she graduated high school, she went on to UAlbany, where she met her husband. Richardson earned three degrees: an undergraduate, and two Master’s Degrees. Her undergraduate is in Political Science and African American history. Her first Master’s Degree is in teaching education, secondary social studies. Her third Master’s Degree is educational administration. She discovered that she wanted to be a teacher in graduate school and has not had any regrets since.

She started teaching at Parsons School, then taught at Albany high for 5 years, San Francisco for 3 years, then came to Colonie Central High School where she has been for 21 years. Richardson reflects on her teaching job in an affluent area in San Francisco. She said they gave her appreciation through money, Colonie gives it through the kids.

She said “I learn stuff from kids everyday whether it’s something that's part of your secret language or language that you use on social media, and kind of helping kids surpass their own expectations…”

Isabelle Lewis, a former student of Richardson’s, said “She's very passionate about her teaching subject; you can tell she really loves her job.”

Lewis’ favorite memories from her class are looking at her blinking LED lights, and listening to her talk about her daughter’s acting career. She views Richardson as an interesting person and will never forget her.

Norhan Algazouli, a current student of Richardson’s said “She's super supportive and it’s obvious she likes her job because she's really good at engaging with her students.”

Algazouli likes her way of teaching and how she gets everyone involved in her friendly debates. She also likes how Richardson is not a people pleaser and is outgoing compared to other teachers. “I think she puts a lot of effort into her teaching,” Algazouli said.

Richardson frequently wears bright colors to express her confidence, revealing to everyone that she is okay with standing out. This confidence resonates throughout her classroom as well, and often draws students to her.

She lit up when I asked where her happy place is outside of school, and she started telling me about her trips abroad. Her favorite places to travel to are London, Japan, Spain. She went to the Galapagos Islands two years ago with Shenendehowa High School, and it surpassed anything she's ever seen. “It was amazing to go there.” she said.

She really appreciates being able to travel with our school as well, and helps run the trips out of the social studies department. When I asked Mrs. Richardson to further explain her experiences chaperoning the school trips, she said “I feel like when you travel with people you form a special kind of bond because you're both in that situation at the same exact time and you're experiencing maybe the foods for the first time together, or something amazing to look at, or finding some amazing history, and I think when you're in those situations you're forever connected with those people.”

Richardson plans to retire in 5 years; her plans afterwards are to continue traveling with her husband and is interested in becoming a methods teacher at SUNY Albany. “Something involved where I'm helping young people who want to come into the education field, encouraging them in some way, shape, or form, on a college level,” she said.

Richardson balances being a mother to her two children and being a fully dedicated teacher who is happy to come to work everyday. She truly cares and is committed to fulfill her students' needs; she cares about her students so much that she often goes out of her way to chaperone them on school field trips abroad.

“Outside of that I feel like I'm just a normal, regular person.. I don't think I would change a thing; everything I did led me to where I am and I'm pretty happy in my life,” said Richardson.