Cheryl Aucoin:
CLASS OF 1969
Warwick Veterans Memorial High SchoolClass of 1969
Warwick, RI
Cheryl's Story
I earned an AA degree from RI Junior College and a BA degree in English/Secondary Education from RIC in 1974. In June my husband, Gary and I will celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary. We have three wonderful children Amy (Brooks Anderson), Sara
( Matthew O'Grady) and Jeremy (Ashley) We are proud of each of our children and the wonderful and successful adults they have become. In 1996, while being mom to three children and teaching full time as an English and religion teacher at St. John the Baptist School, I completed an M.Ed. in Secondary Special Education at PC. Back to RIC in the early 2000's, I earned an endorsement in ESL/Special Education. Then, back to PC where I completed a course of study for certification as a PK-12 Reading Specialist/Consultant in 2007. I guess you could say that I have remained a life-long learner. After spending most of my teaching career at Central Falls High School, I ended my career teaching in the Warwick Public School System. For five years I was a reading specialist/consultant at Aldrich which closed at the end of the 2015/2016 school year. As fate would have it, I spent my last year teaching at Warwick Veterans Memorial Middle School. I came full circle! In June of 2017 I retired. The timing was perfect in so many ways. Gary and I welcomed our first granddaughter on June 16, 2017, our second on December 13, 2017, and our third on February 2, 2018! . We are in Grandma and Grandpa Heaven!!!
Last year we traded in a 2014 Fifth Wheel for a 2017 tow trailer. We will take a few short trips over the next few years until we retire from our craft business "Cheryl's Country Charm". God willing, our plans are to see our beautiful country by visiting many national parks for as long as and as often we can. In comparison to some of your lives, mine might seem boring. However, I am truly blessed and would not change anything.
I found freshman year at Vets to be somewhat lonely, and it did not help that I was very shy. In my own summation, I flew under the radar all four of my years at Vets - unremarkable and unnoticed. I hailed from St. Kevin School where I had spent six years with the same group of 48 students. Vets was huge, and I knew very few students. However, I met Patricia Mulhearn at CCD class and we bonded instantly. She hailed from St. Timothy School and would have gone to Pilgrim had her family not moved into Vet's boundaries. We have remained best friends since 9th grade - more of a sister than a friend! In 10th grade, I met Marilyn Moody. We were casual acquaintances unti...Expand for more
l we linked up in college. Marilyn has been my second best friend - also more of a sister than a friend! I am blessed to have had these two wonderful women as my BFFs for well over 40 years.
Yes, I was very quiet at Vets, but I also had a huge secret to hide while there. My mom was going through a severe mental illness and my father abandoned us. Mr. Paul Campbell, my guidance counselor (grades 10-12) once told me that some day I would tell him what was going on "behind those big, deep, sad brown eyes." One day, early in my senior year, I went to his office. He took one look at me and asked, "Now?" The only response I could give him was to nod yes as a waterfall of tears took hold of me. He cancelled all of his appointments, sat me in a chair, and closed his office door. He listened, handed me tissues and listened some more. I will never forget his words when I stopped. He said, "Wow! I knew there was something, but I never expected you to be carrying the weight of the world on those little shoulders." His next words were, "So what colleges have you applied to so far?" I told him I was going to go to work and take care of my mom. He told me I had to go to college. He got FAFSA and RIJC applications for me, helped me fill them out and the rest is history. I got a full academic and financial aide ride to RIJC. Since I never applied anywhere else, I was not a "reject" as many of us heard so often. LOL Mr. Campbell left Vets and went to work for RIDE. As luck would have it, he worked in the same building in which many of my classes were located. After I transferred to RIC, I lost touch with him.
Once, during a professional day at CFHS, we were asked if any of our former teachers had made a lasting difference in our lives. I raised my hand, stood up and told my story. I thank God for Mr. Paul Campbell because he not only changed the course of my life - he saved my life! One of the main reasons why I became a reading specialist and chose to stay at the secondary level was because I wanted to change the future of students for whom reading was not easy. I wanted to be their "Mr. Campbell".
Just in case you are wondering about my mom, after many years of ups and downs, the right doctor, my nagging him, and the right medicine, my mother was well once again. She was an awesome mom, grandmother and my best friend. She lost her battle to breast cancer in 1989 at the age of 60. Looking back, I have had my share of ups and downs. I am eternally grateful for my time at Vets and will forever be a Hurricane at heart.
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