Alum Teaching Students How To Fly

One look at Quindell Williams '08 ear-to-ear smile lets you know life has never been better for him. He's made a successful career change and found his groove teaching students in the Syracuse City School District. "I always wanted to mentor. In my previous job I enjoyed coming into schools as a career coach. Now to connect everything I've done and see kids grow in the classroom is amazing."

Williams is early in his fourth year at PSLA at Fowler teaching students how to operate remotely piloted aircraft systems, or drones. It's not the career he expected, but now that he's here he wouldn't trade it for anything. "I really enjoy what I do. Any time people ask me about my job I light up because I have awesome students. When they come to school every day they're ready to go. When they leave here they'll be college ready and professional ready."

After graduating from Nottingham High School, Williams came to Onondaga Community College and enrolled in what was then called the Broadcast Media Communications degree program. He loved everything he was learning, excelled in the program, and transferred to SUNY Oswego after earning his associate degree. 

Following his two years at Oswego, Williams began working as a photojournalist at the television stations of CNY Central (Channels 3, 5, and 6) in Syracuse. In 2016 he won an Emmy Award for his outstanding work covering the verdict in a high-profile murder trial. Two years later, Williams and fellow OCC Alum Matt Landers '09 became the first licensed drone pilots for a Syracuse television station. They were regularly dispatched to news stories where pictures from high in the sky could provide viewers with a unique perspective.

Eventually the 24/7 nature of the television news business wore him down and he began examining his options. Careers related to drones were growing in popularity, as was related curriculum in high schools and colleges. When an opportunity opened up at PSLA at Fowler, Williams jumped at it.

In September of 2019 he officially began his teaching career. "Early on I was like 'lesson plan? What's that?' But now I'm very very comfortable. I put some lesson plans together over the summer and found a lot of resources out there and tailored things to my class. I'm really really comfortable now. This is a very exciting time for me."

It's also an exciting time for his students, especially seniors like Shane Kisselstein who are members of the first class of students who Williams began teaching as freshmen. "Mr. Williams is a phenomenal teacher. He has everything planned out from flying the drone to photography. He teaches us all of it." Kisselstein, who also takes classes at OCC as part of the P-TECH program, is one of a handful of students who will take the drone pilot license test next month. "We know what it means to Mr. Williams. We are his first senior class. He's taught us everything from the ground to the airspace. He wants a 100% pass rate. He's pushing us to get there."

As he's successfully changed careers, the fundamentals he learned in his first two years of college have stuck with him and continue to be extremely valuable. "A lot of what I do I attribute to OCC because I didn't find my passion until I went to OCC. Being in the TV studio and seeing the things I had access to, and now I'm applying them to things I teach. We do videography, we do photography, we do audio, we do news-type things, we're using drone video and photos to make stories. I apply everything (Professor) Tony Vadala and (Professor) Mark Ballard taught me."

Best of all, Williams has a work/life balance which he never had in his previous profession. "I have two little boys (ages 7 and 5). I have the same time off they do. I get to take my wife out on dates now. I have so much more time for my family and friends and really enjoy the time. I'm much less stressed. The air is lighter and I feel fulfilled in what I'm doing."