Alumni Spotlight: Colleen Decker

Like many teenagers, Colleen Decker spent high school counting down the days until she could leave her small town. But after years of exploring life in bigger cities while pursuing her legal education, she found herself longing for the place she once felt so eager to outgrow.

Washingtonville, she realized, had given her far more than she understood at the time.

As a third generation graduate from the Washingtonville High School Class of 2008, Colleen is now a staff attorney at the Orange County Legal Aid Society, advocating for and representing indigent defendants. It’s meaningful, demanding work, but in many ways, every step of her journey prepared her for it.

Colleen’s ties to the district run deep.

“My grandpa graduated from Washingtonville, both my parents graduated from Washingtonville and all my cousins,” she said.

As a student, Colleen was a dedicated athlete, earning a varsity basketball spot as a freshman and later joining the track team. The gym became a second home, and her teammates became the people she grew up with.

Looking back, she now sees how quickly it all went. While Colleen may have been looking forward to exploring life beyond Washingtonville, she now wishes that she would’ve paused a little to enjoy it more. 

“I loved high school … I feel like it went by so fast,” she said. “Looking back, I wish I would have enjoyed it a little bit more and tried more things back then.”

Colleen knew early on that she wanted to become a lawyer. Witnessing her family’s own legal challenges gave her an inside view of how attorneys could support people during their hardest chapters.

“I was probably in sixth or seventh grade, and I was like, ‘This is what I want to do,’” she said. “I was able to really observe lawyers doing their job and how they helped my family. I thought, ‘This is really interesting.’”

By the time she reached Washingtonville High School, Colleen’s plan was set. Now, as a volunteer for the high school’s Mock Trial team, she still jokes with teacher and advisor Peter Sale about the paper she once wrote in his class explaining why she wanted to be a public defender – the same role she holds today.

After graduation, Colleen attended the University of New Haven, where she played Division II basketball and earned her degree in Legal Studies. She continued on to New England Law in Boston, earning her Juris Doctor in 2016.

Along the way, her studies took her to Ireland where she took a course taught by the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“To learn the law from him was something almost nobody gets to experience,” she said. “I would do it again in a heartbeat for so many reasons.”

The trip carries even more meaning now. Colleen was able to spend part of it with her parents while they helped her get settled, and the memories from that trip with her late father are among her most cherished.

“I almost didn’t do it because college and law school are already so expensive –  I was drowning in student loan debt,” she said. “It was really a lesson for me to not be afraid to do things because of money. You can’t put a price tag on the experience.”

Even as she traveled and lived in larger cities, Washingtonville remained a steady anchor for Colleen, especially in the thick of final exams. 

“Growing up in Washingtonville and then moving to these bigger cities, it kept me grounded. It was comforting knowing that I had a place to call home,” she said. “Because no matter what, I always knew I had a support system — not just my friends, but my friends’ parents, and their families. Being able to pick up where you left off with this core group of friends was invaluable to my educational journey.”

After law school, Colleen entered the common “bar exam limbo” stage, when new graduates spend months waiting on their test results before they can begin working. 

“You’re kind of unemployable for several months, so I didn’t really have a choice but to come home,” she said.

What felt like a temporary, practical return became something unexpectedly meaningful.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” she explained. “Because I got to spend time at home and hang out with my parents.”

During that time, Colleen also reconnected with Tom, an old friend whom she briefly dated in high school. Now, thanks to that experience, they’re married with 3-year-old twin boys and soon-to-be fourth-generation Wizards.

Colleen’s ties to Washingtonville couldn’t be stronger as she continues to give back to the district that shaped her. This will be her second year as a volunteer coach for the high school’s Mock Trial team, and she’s eager to be back on campus. 

“It's so fun, and I'm not kidding when I say some of those kids are better attorneys than attorneys that I see in court,” she said. “It has been so inspiring seeing them, and I'm so excited to watch them move on with their legal careers and their legal education.”

Last year, Colleen returned to WHS as the keynote speaker at graduation. It was another powerful full-circle moment. 

“Speaking at graduation is arguably one of my proudest moments,” she said. “Being a third generation Washingtonville graduate, and now raising my kids here in Washingtonville, this community and this school district is such a big part of me.”

Reflecting on her journey, Colleen is proud of how far she’s come since crossing the stage at graduation in 2008.

“I don't know if high school Colleen would believe me if I told her what was going on in my life right now, who I’m married to or that we had twins, she’d be like, ‘That’s absurd,’” Colleen laughed. “But I think she would be really proud of what I’ve been able to do at my age, and what I’ve accomplished so far.”

When asked what she’d tell current WHS students, Colleen didn’t hesitate. 

“Don’t be so eager to get out of town,” she said. “Definitely explore, and travel when you can, but don’t forget where home is – because Washingtonville will always be home.”