At the annual Alumni Convocation held by St. John’s University on October 18, Anna R. Lukachik, a 1980 graduate of the School of Education, was honored with the Pietas Medal. The award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated exceptional service and achievements, reflecting the university’s core values in their professional or personal lives.
Lukachik serves on The School of Education Dean’s Advisory Board at St. John’s and is also the Training Director for the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Reflecting on receiving the Pietas Medal, Lukachik said, “On a personal level, the award was totally unexpected. My volunteering at various events has always been intrinsically motivated. By sharing my student story and professional career, I hope to illustrate how St. John’s shaped my career journey and personal life. My goal has always been to encourage prospective and current students to become future alums. Both the skills and knowledge I received at St. John’s through activities and academics contributed significantly to my life journey. My motivation was simply to pass that along.”
She recounted a significant moment from her journey when Jerrold Ross, Ph.D., then Dean of The School of Education, invited her to join the planning committee for its centennial celebration in 2005 and later to serve on its Advisory Board. She recalled asking him why she was chosen: “You took a career path out of ‘traditional education’ and you’re an example of education outside the classic definition. Given changes to the knowledge and skills needed for future jobs, your input into what needs to be in place for ‘educators’ is a needed opinion at the table.”
Discussing her motivation, Lukachik explained: “Life is a learning journey. Think about your day. Did you have to solve a problem? Figure out a way to do something better? Spend an exasperating two hours on a call with Verizon to figure out why your streaming is dammed?
“My goal is to help my clients solve problems that prevent or hinder them from accomplishing things on their ‘to-do’ lists. I don’t think of my audience as students. They are adults, and leveraging andragogy principles is key to constructing successful learning events. Learning events for adults range from job-aids to ongoing skill development for continued employment and success. It’s rewarding to hear someone say, ‘Your class/job-aid/tutorial/on the job assignment helped me.’”
She credited her parents as her greatest inspiration: “My parents. Dad and Mom immigrated to the US from Germany at the end of World War II… They had to learn a fourth language (i.e., Ukrainian, Polish, German, and then English) and find jobs.
“And they did. They bought a home and raised two children who both attained college degrees. For Mom and Dad, learning always came first… Is it any surprise that their daughter would wind up architecting learning events while her sibling engineered civic projects?”
Lukachik also shared an experience from her time at St. John’s that influenced her approach toward leadership: “A leadership class I took with William Saunders, Ph.D., Retired Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at St. John’s University… shaped so much of my fundamental philosophy toward leadership… Leaders need to get things done through others, and you need to model what you expect… If you don’t, failure is the certain outcome.
“I also learned that making mistakes is part of learning… You just need to get up, figure out what should have been done differently, and try again.”
Looking back on her journey as an alumna involved with The School of Education Dean’s Advisory Board and as a Red Storm fan, she said: “Given this phase of my career journey is on the waning side, I’m thinking about paying forward… If I can shift [the traditional] approach for a few small- and medium-sized enterprises, it’d make workplace learning way more powerful and lasting.”
