Madeline Piela

Special Education Speech Pathologist Madelina Piela is a new teacher at the high school. Piela enjoys reading books, taking walks and watching movies. She adores the curious aspects of life and takes pride in learning.

How did you spend your summer this year?
It was pretty relaxing for me, except for at the end of the summer when I moved apartments. It was pretty chaotic, there was a lot of schlepping stuff across town.

Are you looking forward to working at the high school?
Yes, definitely. This is my first time working in a high school, so I think that’s really exciting. I’ve only worked at an elementary school before. I’m really excited to learn some of the differences between elementary schoolers and high schoolers. I think it’s really cool that high schoolers here are more independent.
Is there any reason you chose to start off in elementary school?
I worked with pre-K through fifth grades. I thought it was really fun, but I was always curious about working with older students.

Do you have any high school memories you would share with your students?
Working in high school has made me think about my high school experience a lot. One thing that I’m reminded of especially is that I ran track and cross country. I have a few students who also do track and cross country, so I get really excited thinking about that because it was a really good time.

Do you have any suggestions of strategies for high school?
I’m not a really organized person naturally. I definitely used a lot of external strategies, like making schedules for assignments so that I didn’t do it all at the last minute. I also definitely got help from teachers and help from classmates who were more organized than me.

Is there anything in particular you’d like to do to relax during the school year?
I like to go on walks and runs. I’m taking a Bollywood dance class right now, so that’s been really fun. I love learning new things.

What was your first impression of the high school?
It was really big, and it scared me a little bit that the building was under construction, so I wasn’t really sure how to get from one end to the other. I was also impressed by how independent the students were, because when I was in high school, we didn’t have an open campus. I was impressed that students got to just come and go and that the buildings are unlocked. I thought that was really cool; they clearly trust the students a lot.

What do you think is one of your best skills or best things about yourself?
I think that I’m pretty curious and like I said, I like to learn new things, even if I’m not good at them right away. That’s something that I have been working on my whole life.