Catskill Regional Teacher Center History 

Written mostly by Mary Ann Luciano edited by Aaron Sorensen

Our History

Teacher Centers were established in the U.S. with support from local school districts, teachers’ associations, and for a short time, the federal government. The federal program was abolished in the early 1980’s.

New York State Legislators, (with technical support from NYSUT and NEANY, established education Law 316--the Teacher Center Law. The Legislature funded 44 Teacher Centers. The Catskill Regional Teacher Center, one of the original centers, was created by a core group of school teachers and college faculty who had been involved with computer instruction during summers at SUNY Oneonta. It was decided early on that this Teacher Center was to be a consortium based at SUNY Oneonta involving schools in the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES and the Otsego Northern Catskills BOCES areas. The Center was given space in the then-vacant Bugbee School. Bylaws were established and the Policy Board hired its first Director, Barbara Stoehr. The Catskill  Regional Teacher Center became a member of the 12 Center Southern Tier Teacher Center Network (STTCN), one of seven NYS Teacher Center Networks.

In 1991, the governor and the legislature did not fund Teacher Centers in the general budget. Senator James Seward came to the aid of the Catskill Regional Teacher Center and three other centers with legislative grants to carry on the Center’s work. The Policy Board hired Mary Ann Luciano as Director to start part-time on November 1, 1991.

In 2005, the Policy Board added two satellite locations at Roxbury CS and Unadilla Valley CS. In 2007, the Delaware County site was moved from Roxbury CS to Stamford CS. In 2010, Teacher Centers were again eliminated from the NYS budget. The Center was kept open half-time with reserve funds collected from program registrations and small grants over the many years the Teacher Center existed. In 2011-2012, after late funding by the NYS Legislature, the Policy Board determined that the Director, Mary Ann Luciano, would work for 22 hours per week on a 12-month contract.  Joining Mary Ann in the Bugbee school office was Diane Aaronson, Program Manager for the BOCES Arts in Education Program. This move allowed the two programs to collaborate throughout the year and maintain a staffed office. 

In 2013 after Mary Ann announced her intention to retire, the Policy Board began searching for a new Director. David Potter began as the Centers 3rd director on February 24, 2014. Under his direction, the center returned to its roots as an education center with a focus on technology. 

In 2016 the satellite center in Bainbridge Guilford was opened to replace the  satellite Center in Unadilla Valley, 

In 2017, the Center moved its operations to Bacon Hall while Bugbee was renovated. During this time David Potter announced his intention to become a STEAM coordinator at DCMO BOCES to begin January 1st, 2018. Unable to find a suitable replacement the Policy Board hired Diana Torta, a long-time policy board member, to serve as an interim director from March of 2018 until July 2018. Aaron Sorensen, a longtime board member started July 1st, 2018 as the 4th full-time director of the CRTC. During this time Diana Aaronson retired from Arts in Education and the AIE office went to BOCES Norwich campus. The CRTC moved back to a vacant 3rd floor in Bugbee in January 2019.