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Lifelong learner

Lifelong learner

Rebecca Sutton ’25 May 20, 2024

Two UD degrees and a lifetime of education for Bombeck Center director.

You won’t find many people more dedicated to education than Michelle Donley ’12.

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Donley, director of the Bombeck Family Learning Center, has made it her life’s work to inspire the young minds who walk through the doors of the center each day.

Donley’s journey into education began in 1996, when she worked as a preschool teacher. She fell in love with teaching. She applied to be an early childhood educator at Bombeck in 2006 and said it immediately felt right.

“This feels like home,” she said, “… there was just an overwhelming feeling of comfort.”

This began a 10-year teaching career at the Bombeck Center, taking some time off in between to raise her three children. As she molded her experience as an educator, she knew she wanted something more to show for it and decided to go back to school just a few steps away.

“I’m a lifelong learner,” she said. “When I got the job here as a teacher, I knew that part of my goal was to continue learning about education, so that’s what I did.”

In 2012, she graduated with a bachelor’s in early childhood education from UD, and she earned her master’s in education in 2016 — the same year she was named director of the center.

Donley credits her UD learning experience to how she has evolved as an educator. She said she took much of what she learned in her courses right back to the Bombeck Center, helping the center thrive while adapting to changes in technology and with COVID-19.

"When I got the job here as a teacher, I knew that part of my goal was to continue learning about education, so that’s what I did.”

“The most important thing is understanding that our field evolves, and it must evolve with all the changes that are occurring in our world,” she said.

The center recently received the Program of the Year award for the southwest division of the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, but Donley said she is most proud of how the center supports its teachers and children and mentors UD education students to become the best teachers they can be.

“I feel like it’s my life’s work,” she said.

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