For English teacher Melanie Fisher, Baldwin has always been an important place.

“My husband and I both grew up in Baldwin-Whitehall, graduated from Baldwin, and we are raising our family here,” Fisher said.

After high school, she attended California University of Pennsylvania, where she studied English education. Her inspiration to become a teacher, though, started much earlier, in a class taught by Nancy Foote, mother of Baldwin social studies teacher Adam Foote.

“Mrs. Foote, who was my second grade teacher, inspired me to become a teacher,” Fisher said.

Her love for English and reading started in her freshman year, and that has carried over into her teaching career. She will be teaching one of her favorite books this year, The Great Gatsby.

“I always love reading The Great Gatsby. I read that once a summer,” Fisher said. “Right now I’m more into mystery and stuff like that, but Gatsby has always been my favorite.”

Outside of books, Fisher’s life outside of teaching revolves around family and sports.

“Much of my free time is spent at high school baseball and volleyball games,” Fisher said.

Over the past 20 years, Fisher has taught both middle school and high school in English and special education. Her years of experience allow her to connect with students at different levels and guide them through a love of literature.

Fisher said sharing her love of reading is what she enjoys most about teaching, and it is her end goal for her students

“I want them to fall in love with reading because you can just get lost in it,” Fisher said.

Josh Milani always knew he wanted to be a teacher, but ESL in particular had a place close to his heart because of his younger sister.

“(She’s) from another country,” Milani said.

His sister, Maya, was adopted from Guatemala when she was eight months old. Milani’s parents brought her home on Milani’s ninth birthday. Even as a baby, it was clear Maya had noticed that their language was different than what she was used to.

Milani said that she was very slow to speak at first, which worried his family, but the doctor ensured that Maya was simply adjusting to her new surroundings. Sure enough, she started speaking full sentences in English months later.

This experience was what inspired him to get his ESL certification, so that he could support multilingual learners who came to build their lives in the United States.

“Growing up with her gave me a deep appreciation for different languages and cultures.

Milani has been in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District for three years, though he had worked with the district as a substitute before that. This year, he is teaching ESL Freshman Seminar in the mornings before heading to McAnnulty to teach kindergarteners in ESL as well as STEAM and Library – or, as they call it, “Imagination Station.”

Both outside and inside school, Milani enjoys reading.

“I truly believe books can open doors to the future and spark endless opportunities,” he said.

His love for reading translates to his teaching style as well. Books often help students discover new opportunities and learn new words, which Milani loves to see. Helping students experience the same excitement from reading is what is most rewarding, Milani said.

Milani believes that the Baldwin-Whitehall School District is where he was meant to be.

“The students, families, and staff have all made me feel so welcomed and supported over the years. I can’t imagine a better place to teach and make a difference in the lives of others,” Milani said.

Sean Thurston was inspired to become a history teacher by researching his family tree.

“I found out that someone who I’m related to signed the Mayflower Compact, and also that through marriage I’m technically related to Pocahontas. These things were so interesting to me that I decided to go into teaching history,” Thurston said.

Thurston said that discovering personal family history is important for everyone to consider.

“I think that it is important to find out where your family was in different periods of time. It makes learning about bigger events in history more interesting, because you can know what your family was doing during those times,” Thurston said.

After attending high school at South Park, Thurston studied education at Penn State. Thurston is already familiar with the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, as he previously taught eighth grade here.

“It’s pretty easy to get to know everyone and make friends. The staff here has been really nice and the students have been nice as well,” Thurston said.

Outside of teaching, Thurston is a hockey coach for South Park High School. He is also a member of an adult league and he occasionally plays in Bethel Park on Sundays.

“Hockey has definitely been a big part of my life,” Thurston said.

Switching to a school with four grade levels can be a challenge, but Thurston said things have been going well for him.

“I’ve been getting to know everyone well, and even in the hallways the kids are kind and saying hi to me. It’s been really nice so far,” Thurston said.

Sports and family have always played a big part in school counselor Sara Fiorill’s life.

When Fiorill was a student at Baldwin, she won two WPIAL championships on the softball team, and the team placed second at states, with the team earning a place in the Baldwin Sports Hall of Fame.

Those four years of high school softball were not enough for Fiorill, who now plays for an adult league in Munhall.

“It’s not as competitive, but it is fun to play with my friends,” Fiorill said.

Fiorill also enjoys watching her two children, Grady and Ellie, play sports, and she likes running back and forth from practice to practice with them.

“Watching my kids do what they love, like watching them play the sports that they love and enjoying themselves, makes me so happy,” she said.

With the kids involved in football, basketball, cheerleading, and volleyball, the Fiorill family stays busy. It is important for them to spend time together, despite their busy schedules, Fiorill said.

“I love going places with them and just hanging out,” Fiorill said, “Any time that we get to actually see each other and spend time together is great.”

When she is not with her children, she is at work helping other children through school. Fiorill has worked at Baldwin High School, Paynter Elementary School, Whitehall Elementary School, and McAnulty Elementary School.

And this year, Fiorill is back at high school.

Fiorill always hopes to be someone whom students can trust and talk to.

“I know that it is hard being a teenager, so I want my students to have someone that they can always come to, no matter if it is academic or personal,” Fiorill said.

Sarah Faccenda’s grandmother is part of the reason she became an ESL teacher.

Her grandmother started losing the ability to speak English as she got older and went back to speaking mostly Italian.

¨As she got older and my grandfather passed away, she kind of regressed and went back to just speaking Italian,¨ Faccenda said.

That made it hard for Faccenda to communicate with her grandmother. And that stuck with her.

She realized how important it is to help kids who are learning English to feel understood and confident. Now Faccenda is helping ESL students at the high school achieve that.

There were other moments that led to her career choice. When she was little, she played “teacher” at home. As she grew older, her passion for education deepened.

Her softball coach and senior year English teacher at Bishop Canevin High School also provided inspiration. He made an effort to communicate well with all of his students, she said.

¨He was the type of person who, I think, just connected with his students,¨ Faccenda said.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Faccenda grew up in Robinson Township.

Outside of the classroom, she can usually be found spending time with her husband and kids. Her children play basketball, so she is busy attending their games and practices. They usually vacation at the Outer Banks or Hilton Head.

“We go there a lot with family, so those two places I have been going to pretty much my whole life. And my kids love the beach too,” Faccenda said.

Her own experience with high school art classes helped lead Megan Kunst to an art teaching position at Baldwin.

“I have always enjoyed drawing, and I really felt like I found a home in the art room while in school. So I wanted to give back and help make the art room a welcoming, ‘feel good’ place for others,” Kunst said.

For Kunst, who graduated from Edinboro University and majored in fine arts and art education, many of her hobbies are also art-related. These include painting, printmaking, clay, knitting, and sewing. She also enjoys spending time outside hiking and traveling.

Reading is another one of Kunst’s favorite pastimes. However, family life is keeping her busy right now.

“I like to read. But I have less time now because I have two little kids, so I listen to audiobooks and podcasts while going on walks or folding laundry,” she said.

Kunst’s passion for art is also driven by the challenges that art presents.

“I like the problem solving aspect: trying to figure out how to get an image to communicate the feeling I want, or how to use the materials in a new way,” she said.

Biology teacher Katherine Pugar initially wanted to become a biologist before changing her major to teaching.

“I realized I wanted to teach when I became the teaching assistant for a biology class in college,” Pugar said. ”I love kids, so I wanted to spend every day around children and teaching. Finding different ways to explain concepts was super fun and rewarding.”

Pugar grew up in Shaler. Before she went to Pitt’s main campus for her master’s, she went to Pitt-Johnstown for her undergrad degree.

“I loved the Johnstown branch. It was in the woods, and it was very pretty. My class size was pretty small, and I really enjoyed that. If I was absent, my professors would literally email me and be like, ‘Hey, are you OK?’ ”

Pugar sometimes can get stage fright when talking in front of audiences. She gets over it by telling herself that she might as well try to do well if she’s going to do it at all.

“I kind of just say, ‘You’re here. It’s going to happen.’ If I mess up, stutter, or I say the wrong thing, I’m honest,” she said. “I’m like ‘Hey, sorry, this is what I actually meant,’ and I just keep going.”

She has learned that if she’s passionate while teaching, her students will be more focused and interested in the subject.

“The more I’m interested in it, and the more that I give examples and my own experience, and explain things differently, I noticed that students get more excited about it,” Pugar said. “I definitely include play a lot in my methods too. Students need to be up and moving and working together, and playing games. It helps.”

Outside of her work and studies, Pugar also danced for 18 years.

“My favorite was hip hop,” she said. “But I would also do contemporary jazz, and I did tap for a little too. Tap was not my favorite, though.”