Sean Daley practices a solo with the Rensselaer CSD Jazz Band
Sean Daley is quite the accomplished musician for someone yet to graduate high school.
In addition to playing the trumpet for 10 years, he has also picked up the trombone, flugelhorn, French horn, harmonica, piano and drums over the past several years. He plays in the jazz band, sings, composes music, and participates in drama club. He even won both the John Philip Sousa Band Award and the Louis Armstrong Jazz Band Award as a junior – a first for the Rensselaer City School District.
But that is not the best part of his story. It is the turnaround he has orchestrated as a Questar III student.
Sean is a senior in the Questar III class based at Rensselaer CSD. While his family lives in Cairo, he has found a second home at Rensselaer City and in the class taught by Heather Silvernail.
“Rensselaer City treats him and all of us like their own. Karen Urbanski, the principal will actively seek him out and say ‘great job in the concert last night’ or ‘I saw you in the play you did great,’” Heather says.
Sean’s mother Erin says he long had trouble controlling his temper and struggled to read social cues. Because of that, he often felt like an outcast. As a result, he struggled to make friends and whenever something negative happened, he would blame it on others. Tough conversations at home often ended with hurt feelings on both sides. Erin would often receive emails saying Sean had been involved in an issue at school.
Today, Erin says she hears a different tune.
“He has tools now to step back and say ‘okay, I don’t need to do that,’ and he walks away. I have not gotten an email that there was an altercation at school in two and a half years,” Erin says.
Sean and Erin say Questar III’s program at Rensselaer CSD has been a driving force behind his profound change. Ms. Silvernail’s class has helped Sean be more mindful of how he interacts with others and to focus on his strengths.
The class is designed to offer opportunities for increased social interaction and mainstreaming (including taking classes with the general education population at Rensselaer City). It is this environment that has really allowed Sean to grow.
For example, Erin says when Sean didn’t make it into the All-County Music Festival last year, he responded differently than he would have in the past.
“Old Sean would’ve been throwing things and saying ‘they did this because nobody likes me.’ Now, it’s ‘Ok, well there’s always next year. I’m going to get it next year,’ and he did. There’s a drive that wasn’t there before.”
Sean’s relationship with his teacher has been a cornerstone of his success. He says being able to talk to someone “like a parent who is not your parent” has made a huge difference.
Both Heather and Erin agree that frequent communication has been key.
Sean (right) performs in the RCSD production of “The Princess Who Had No Name”
“If he’s having a bad morning at home, I can email her first thing in the morning and say ‘just so you know Heather, he’s in a bad mood and this is why’. In the same respect if he has a bad day at school, she’ll email me,” Erin says.
“It’s teamwork. I think a lot of times if something happens at home we’re able to get through it from an outside perspective because we weren’t there and when things happen at school vice-versa. Erin is able to talk to him at home and kind of level it out with him,” Heather says.
Sean says one of the things he loves most about being in Ms. Silvernail’s class is knowing that others have his back.
“It’s hard to actually put into words. I never really had that with a lot more than my family. I’d say it’s an extended family honestly. I feel very comfortable. Ms. Silvernail is like my second mother, I can trust her with everything.”
Heather says the feelings are mutual. Over the past several years she has developed a great relationship with his family – something that is very important to her. She says she knew when Sean came to her class that he didn’t have a great outlook on school (so she worked diligently to build that level of trust).
“I feel like I belong here. Like I’ve belonged here for a long time,” Sean says.
His mom says she’s seen a marked change in Sean’s personality since starting in Heather’s class two and a half years ago.
“He’s not so afraid of being rejected. He doesn’t have this cloud over him. He’s got such a positive self-image now.”
Heather says she has encouraged Sean to think about how he wants people to see and remember him. In the past, she says Sean did things just for attention – even negative attention. To him, any attention was better than no attention, even if that meant getting in trouble.
Now, the attention comes for different reasons. This year, he was voted most talented in the Rensselaer City yearbook.
“Now that is the Sean everyone in Rensselaer City is going to remember. That’s huge coming from the spot he was in in 9th grade,” Erin says.
Sean and his mom are quick to credit Heather for much of his growth.
Sean (center) celebrates with his castmates after production of this year’s play finished.
“He’s learned a lot of tools that I know are going to take him through the rest of his life. She’s the single best person for him up here,” Erin says.
Sean has also been able to come off of his medication – something Erin attributes to the strategies and tools he learned at Questar III.
Sean agrees that his new friends at Rensselaer, from the students to teachers, has helped him grow more comfortable and confident.
“I’m a completely different person. I feel like I’m more comfortable with people now than I ever was before,” Sean says as his mom and his teacher beam with pride.
Sean is currently a Chief Master Sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol. After graduation in June, he plans to attend Basic Military Training for the U.S. Air Force in Texas. After basic training, he wants to attend officer training school to be a helicopter pilot. Being a musician, he also wants to join the Air Force Band.
Erin says teacher Heather Silvernail is not someone she or Sean will soon forget.
“Twenty years from now, he will still credit her with getting to where he is,” she says.
“I’ll strut through your door in my uniform just to say hi,” Sean says with a huge smile.
