Fall in love with what you do. Being the best and giving your best. That’s being Vincentian! Testimony from alumni of Vincentian institutions let us know that Vincentians are out there!

On the day Helen Rooney visited the Queens, NY, campus for the first time, she knew that St. John’s was the place to fulfill her passion for teaching. “I felt this instant connection to the University,” she said. “That didn’t happen at any other school I visited.”

Ms. Rooney studied childhood education with a concentration in biology. After graduating, she began working with special needs students in Long Beach, NY, public schools. She was a teacher’s assistant, educating children who had autism, Down syndrome, and other learning difficulties. “I fell in love with the job,” she said.

Today, Ms. Rooney is the Head Teacher for a seventh-grade class at the Aaron School in midtown Manhattan. Aaron is a K‒12 special needs and learning disabilities school that combines traditional subjects with methods for overcoming social challenges. She teaches science, English language arts, mathematics, and health and human development. She also handles individual report cards and serves as a liaison with parents and the New York State Department of Education. According to Ms. Rooney, “Professors in The School of Education showed me how to be the best teacher I could—because they’re the best.”

Helen Rooney ’11Ed

From St. John’s University