CDColin Dabkowski
Colin Dabkowski in a gallery
Now building the set for Check PleaseStill for now · final version: 30-second video reel

Colin
Dabkowski

Teacher, journalist and director. I build classrooms where students report, broadcast, publish and perform for real audiences, and I help schools do the same.

Watch the keynoteBook a workshop

What I do

For schoolsSpeaking & PDProject-based learning, inquiry, student agency, real audiences.Multimedia ProductionWACS Student MediaA live daily show, livestreams, documentaries and graphics, run by students.Alden High School TheaterFive ProductionsFrom Peter and the Starcatcher to The Outsiders.Student projectsPodcasts & PublicationsMentor podcasts, the Park Street Gallery literary magazine, independent work.The Buffalo NewsJournalismFeatures, criticism, columns and interviews.InteractivePrint HighlightsSearch my best clips by year, section, person or place.
2025 · Center for English Teaching banquet

Early Career Teacher Award

The acceptance speech and the keynote from the same evening.

The story so far

  1. 2004Syracuse UniversityMagazine journalism and Spanish.
  2. 2005–06McSweeney’s · Voice of WitnessManaging editor of Surviving Justice, oral histories of the wrongfully convicted.
  3. 2007–2019The Buffalo NewsNearly 13 years as arts critic, Sunday columnist and digital editor.
  4. 2018–2022Buffalo StateTeacher certification, then an M.S.Ed. in English education.
  5. 2020–nowAlden High SchoolEnglish, multimedia production, creative writing and acting. Adviser to WACS. Theater director.
  6. 2025Early Career Teacher AwardHonored at the Center for English Teaching banquet, where he also gave the keynote.

On the program

All sessions →
Project-based learning[Conference · Year] →Inquiry-based education[Conference · Year] →Student agency & autonomy[Conference · Year] →Producing work for real audiences[Conference · Year] →AI in the classroomConversations on AI Symposium, Canisius · 2023 →News literacyFeatured on WKBW · 2022 →
Before the classroom

From the Buffalo News archive

Nearly 13 years of arts journalism: features, criticism, Sunday columns, remembrances and digital storytelling.

See print highlights →
Edward AlbeePlaywright · interviewTakashi MurakamiArtist · interviewDavid SedarisWriter · interviewLiza MinnelliPerformer · interviewAnselm KieferArtist · interview
Colin FirthActor · interviewJunot DíazNovelist · interviewSara BareillesSongwriter · interviewDiane PaulusDirector · interviewAlec BaldwinActor · interview
Gloria EstefanSinger · interviewEddie MoneyMusician · interviewA.R. GurneyPlaywright · remembranceMilton RogovinPhotographer · remembranceManny FriedPlaywright and activist · remembrance
As featured by
WKBWAchieving Joy and Mastery in Public SchoolsCanisiusBuffalo StateTim Graham and Friends

Bring this to your teachers

Keynotes, hands-on workshops and multi-session PD. [Formats and availability]

Book a workshopHiring? See my CV