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Julie and Mark Donnelly
Julie Donnelly always wanted to be a teacher, but her career plans were derailed by some harsh economic realities. In the early 1990’s, teaching jobs were scarce and her UM-Flint advisor recommended a change in strategy. So, for seven years, Julie carved out a successful—if unexpected—career as a corporate trainer specializing in information technology.
Even so, her longtime dream of teaching refused to die. “I realized that my only regret in life was not pursuing a career in education,” she recalls. Encouraged by her husband, Mark, she explored the ELMAC program at the University of Michigan. “It sounded too good to be true,” Julie says. “I discovered that I wasn’t too old to go back to school after all. And I view my time in ELMAC as one of the best years of my life.”
By 2003, Julie was happily teaching social studies and language arts to sixth graders at Ann Arbor’s Clague Middle School. That’s when Mark began to revisit his own career dreams.
Like Julie, he had been drawn to teaching—but was discouraged by the job market. So instead, he leveraged a graduate degree in labor relations and human resources management into a series of high-profile jobs with Fortune 10 companies. “I enjoyed every minute of corporate life,” Mark notes. “But after the birth of our son, I didn’t want any more 60-hour-a-week jobs. Also, I saw what a great experience ELMAC had been for Julie, how she went from student to classroom teacher within one calendar year.”
By September of 2003, Mark was enrolled in ELMAC and finding it to be “a very positive experience.” The following September, he began teaching language arts and social studies at Highlander Way Middle School in Howell, work that continues to be “challenging, energizing, demanding, and very rewarding.”
Julie agrees wholeheartedly with her husband’s assessment. “I love teaching. I love going to work in the morning. It’s a dream come true. And at least once every day, I think of the ELMAC program with gratitude.”
