WOODBURY — It might be late in the school year, but there are still some new faces at Nonnewaug High School.
The newest member of the Nonnewaug community is Melissa Ciarlo, who earlier this spring joined the special education department as the Life Skills teacher. Her classroom is located in C02, closest to the cafeteria. The Chief Advocate caught up with Ciarlo for a question-and-answer session.
Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in teaching, and what motivated you to apply for a position at our school?
A: Well, I grew up when my mom was a teacher, so I would go to school with her and work with all sorts of different aged kids. So I really just kind of wanted to be a teacher ever since I was little. I live locally, so it’s a nice commute to Nonnewaug here and it’s a really nice school; everybody is very friendly. So it was just a good opportunity to get back into teaching.
Q: Can you share any goals you have for your teaching journey at our school?
A: I just want to get to know everybody, work with the kids and see the kids learn, meet new people, and just keep on doing what I like.
Q: How do you plan to make connections and build relationships with your students?
A: Just getting to know them and getting to know what they like and sharing common interests with them and building from there. Also, just working with the kids one on one every day.
Q: What challenges do you anticipate facing as you transition into this new role and how do you plan to overcome them?
A: I think the biggest challenge is just being new and learning the way around, learning everyone’s names. Also, just trying to fit into this community. It will take some time, and just taking it slow will be the best way to go about it. Asking people for help and getting to know as many people as possible [is helpful].
Q: What do you hope to learn or gain from this new experience both personally and professionally?
A: I would like to just keep doing what I love — teaching — and just growing in my career and meeting new people, trying new things and kind of going from there.
