WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A royal welcome and a blessing is what started a celebration of legacy and life at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre.
Doreen Dougherty died last August after a private battle with an illness.
She worked as an education leader in the Scranton Diocese since 2015 and started as principal in 2019.
"She always had this never-ending energy that was unmatched, and when she started here, she really wanted to be able to create an environment for our students that was above and beyond anyone's expectations," said Kristen Donohue, Superintendent at the Scranton Diocese.
This is why a new digital learning center at the school, which was spearheaded by Doughtery, will now bear her name.
"We've been working on this space for four and a half years. The pandemic happened, so you know, it came to a standstill, and you know, some of the seniors began asking are we ever going to use this space back in December, and I said in January when you come back, you can get in here," said Principal Cody Opalka of Holy Redeemer High School.
Dougherty's legacy at the school will live on in this space for innovation, collaboration, and learning.
"She always wanted to make the world a better place, schooling a better place, and the world a better place, and she culminated that here," said Robert Dougherty, Dougherty's husband.
Her family says it's what she would have wanted for students for years to come.
"It's a real dream of what education means to her. It's really an incredible gesture for the school to finish this and the Diocese to be committed to this, and for it to be named, it really is a space that she saw the future in," added Dougherty.