Serniqua Dougherty
Early Childhood Special and General Education '18
I am bringing my best self, and children know when you care and when you are working with them in a way that recognizes their needs. I know I’m making a major difference in their learning and their lives.
Serniqua Dougherty, GSE ’22, worked in the interior design and luxury goods field. One day while pregnant with her daughter, she felt the shift in her priorities start to happen while helping clients pick out pillows. She looked out the window and realized it was time to find a more fulfilling path.
This desire for change led her to the Early Childhood Special and General Education program at Bank Street Graduate School of Education, where she discovered an approach to child-centered learning that mirrored the values she held for her own child.
She said, “It was a process. During COVID-19, I spent a lot of time outdoors exploring with my daughter, and I often found myself thinking about pursuing teaching. Special education started to feel like a calling—to serve students who needed a little more help controlling their emotions and bodies.”
Today, Serniqua is a head Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) teacher where she manages classrooms containing both general and special education students. She has found that her luxury design background provided a toolkit of transferable skills.
“In the classroom, my creativity as an interior designer shines through,” she explained, noting how she uses art and hands-on activities to engage her students. “I also draw on my customer contact and communication skills to build strong, empathetic relationships with parents.”
The flexibility of Bank Street’s evening classes helped her to complete her program while maintaining her full-time job and responsibilities as a new parent. Her advisor and teacher, Soyoung Park, guided her through the emotional challenges of switching fields and kept her on track to graduate.
Serniqua completed her supervised fieldwork at a 4410 school, a specialized setting for preschool-age children with significant physical, cognitive, and developmental disabilities. As she watched her mentor-teacher navigate classroom challenges, she fully dedicated herself to doing the work of teaching “all day, every day.”
“I would have never thought my wow moment would be seeing the kids every day during morning drop off and thinking about how excited I am for our day,” she said. “I am bringing my best self, and children know when you care and when you are working with them in a way that recognizes their needs. I know I’m making a major difference in their learning and their lives.”
Now an established educator, she encourages others feeling a similar pull toward teaching to trust their instincts.
“It takes strength to say bye-bye to the salary, to all the things, but the reward I feel every day as an educator is unmatched, she said. “Just remember: You’re thinking about it for a reason. So do it. Try it. It’s rewarding, I promise.”
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