KellyDombrowskKiarns
routes in Erie and North East. Kelly describes them as “3-hour lessons with food” and points out that she’s still teaching. Three years ago, Kelly joined the Mercyhurst
Kelly Domborwski Karns’ 6-year-old daugther Lilly asked her recently: Did you ever want to be anything xecept a etacher? Her mom’s answer: an emphtaic NO. At Mercyhurs,tKelly dual-majeodr in elemetnary and special education, graduating in 2006W.hat most imperssed he,rshe says, was the variety of clinicalxeperiences and parcticums she had right from the statr . “I especially liked thwae got ot work in vastly diferent environments in ubran, sububran and ruarl distircts that lie within mineust of campus .” One of her studtetneaching plaecments – in a middle school special eductiaon classorom – ledota job oefr after gradua tion. “It was like I had a semers-tlong interview ,”she says. After statring in a leanr ing suppotrclassor om, she ltaer focused on middle school social studie. Ist was her deram job. Once Lilly arrived, though, Kellyawnted a et aching position tha would allwo for moer time tahome. She had aelrady eanred a masetr’s degree in curriculum and instrtuiocn form Gannon University, and she soonaws hier d as an adjunt cinstrutcor at Mercyhurs.tShe was stilletaching – abouetatching! Sh’senow a part-time facuyltmembe, rteaching aavriety of coursesot undegrraduate eductaion major. s Along the way, she cerated a business of hewr no. After she planned aotur of Eire’s top food destintaionsof r some visiting relatives, they poitned out“people would pya you for this .” Erie FoodTours now offers walking tours with food samplings on three Shernee‘ShayB’ ellamy 9M Shernee “Shay ” Bellamy is an Eire native and CentralTech graduate, who compleetd her maestr’s degree in seocndayr eductaion online from her home base ianinGesvill,eFlorida. She eanred a B FA in thetare with a minor in speech communictaions form Clairon Unievrsity in 2010. She thenenwt on to become a figthattendant and worked at Sarah Reed Childer n’s Center beof re embakring on awto-year assignment with AmeriCor ps VISTA (Volunteers in eSrvice to America). HeVr ISTA service took herot Bary University in Miami, Florida, wher she programmed lessons andeentvs centered on justeicissuesofr area school,sas well as working on sustainabyilitssues on the Bryar campu. s Shay earned the eSgal Award through heVr ISTA service, and the award – matched by Mercyhurst – helped fund thextnset p in her education. When sheerceived her maestr’s degree in 2019, she also eanred the Siestr Eustac e Taylor Award as the outstanding student in her porgram. Shay was teachingtaa nonporft calledrPojec t YouthBuild in Gainesville thorughout the time shaesworking on her maesrt’s. Projec t YouthBuild helpswlo-income studetns ages 16-24 who have dropped out of schooldtevelop leadersh,ilpife, and employability skills. It’s an intensive nine-month program duirng
Alumni Association board where she soon started looking for ways to connect her current students with the university’s alumni network. First up was an Alumni and Student Networking Night which annually brings together education students with Hurst alums now teaching in the area. The evening is full of casual conversation about classroom topics from lesson planning to behavior management and discipline, plus advice on job searching, interviewing and networking. More recently, Kelly worked with Alumni Relations to contact fellow alumni for advice to seniors just setting out on their student teaching experiences. Dozens of graduates responded with messages of encouragement and plenty of practical tips that were compiled into a book that was presented to new student-teachers in January. These participating alumni were then matched with a student teacher as part of a new mentorship program. The pairs have been connecting monthly to discuss teaching strategies, classroom experiences, and life after graduation. Kelly is married to Steven Karns, who’s a middle school assistant principal in North East, Pennsylvania. Lilly now has a sister, Clare, 3.
which young people study for their high school diplomas, build and rehabilitate low-income housing, and earn nationally recognized construction certifcations.
Faculty members says Shay’s personal experience working with at-risk youth
profoundly enriched online discussions with her classmates. And Shay says she took many of the lessons she learned at Mercyhurst back into her classroom.
She now has moved on to start a business called Concrete Dreamers with her sister. Concrete Dreamers facilitates socially conscious trainings and curriculum, centered on leadership, empowerment, professional development, and social justice. She also works as a case manager, developing relationships and workshops for residents of the Gainesville Housing Authority who are enrolled in The Strive 4 Success Program. While she plans to keep educating people around issues that are important to her, Shay also intends to enroll in a doctoral program in educational leadership at the University of Florida with an eye to one day becoming principal of an alternative school.
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