Ann Mangan Reflects on 32 Years in Education 

Ann Mangan does not seem especially interested in talking about herself. During a recent interview about her retirement, she laughed and admitted that part is hard for her. What came easier was talking about her students, the diverse challenges they faced, and the inspiring resilience they showed in reaching graduation.  

Across 32 years in education, Ann Mangan worked in classrooms and counseling offices, with students as young as kindergarten and as old as high school seniors. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, later earned her counseling degree and went on to counsel students from pre-K through 12th grade. When Ohio Digital Learning School (ODLS) opened seven years ago, she joined as a school counselor and remained in that role through retirement.  

That range explains the kind of educator Mangan became. She understood students at different ages, but she was especially drawn to counseling because she saw that many young people needed emotional support, direction, and someone who would take their circumstances seriously.  

Finding Her Passion at ODLS 

Mangan arrived at ODLS when the school was still new. In the years since, she has watched enrollment grow from roughly 200-250 students to more than 1,200.  

As a credit recovery and dropout prevention school, ODLS serves students who still want a diploma but are trying to earn it while carrying responsibilities that make a traditional school schedule difficult. Some students are working full-time, some are raising children, some are dealing with medical issues, and some have simply fallen behind and need a setting that allows them to keep going.  

Mangan spoke about students completing schoolwork at night after their children were asleep or balancing full-time jobs with full-time enrollment. In those situations, flexibility is the difference between continuing and dropping out. 

Staying Close to Students 

Mangan’s work at ODLS covered far more than scheduling and graduation checks. She taught classes, led a homeroom, worked with other teachers, met one-on-one with students and kept up a steady flow of communication with families. She also reviewed graduation plans for students who completed courses early so they could move directly into the next requirement. 

Part of her job she enjoyed most was teaching social-emotional and college-and-career classes. Over the years, those classes included interviewing, resume writing, interest inventories and conversations about careers, technical education, two-year colleges and four-year universities. She particularly enjoyed teaching Leader in Me, a class based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.  

That work gave students something practical, but it also gave them space to understand themselves better.  

The Students Who Stayed with Her 

What gives Mangan’s career its weight are the students she remembers in detail. Like a 20-year-old mother of two, including one child with special needs, who kept going and graduated even when she doubted she could. And a senior who came to ODLS with about two credits and has taken 16 classes this year because he promised his ill mother he would graduate. She recalled a young father of twins who worked full-time and told her he needed his diploma so he could support his family. 

Those stories explain why graduation was her favorite time of year. It was when the work became visible. Students she had known through meetings, emails and online classes walked across a stage, diploma in hand. Families cheered. Students saw, often in public and for the first time in a long while, that they had finished something difficult. 

Asked what she is most proud of, Mangan estimated she has helped about a thousand students earn a diploma. Former students still reach out to tell her they are in college, in apprenticeships or moving forward in their careers. She kept all the notes sent from parents and students over the years.  

Ann Mangan changed the shape of countless lives over her 32-year career. She has left an indelible mark on ODLS, our staff, and our students.  

Thank you, Ann, and happy retirement! 

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