CJ Norwood was a Baldwin senior who wanted to start his own fashion line. So Ginny Pfatteicher, his fashion design teacher, helped him develop his first clothing brand and business.
RJ Schugg and Kacey Faust were high school students who participated in the preschool program at Baldwin that Pfatteicher helps run. Both ended up pursuing a career in education as a result.
Emily Moore didn’t follow the same fashion styles as most students when she was in high school. But Pfatteicher always offered compliments and helped her feel more confident in herself.
These Baldwin alums, as well as many other current and former students, have been greatly impacted by Pfatteicher in her 22 years of teaching, 17 of which have been in the district. Her teaching career will come to an end in June with her retirement.
Pfatteicher’s journey began when she took a preschool class while attending Mt. Lebanon High School, which made her want to major in home ec education when she got to IUP for college.
After college she worked at a daycare center and then in sales, traveling a lot for the soap company Dial – which was not an ideal situation for a new mom and wife. So she started substitute teaching at Upper St. Clair, and then got her first full-time teaching job as a culinary arts teacher at Keystone Oaks.
Pfatteicher then got a call from a teacher at Baldwin about a job opening for teaching in the preschool program, and she has been here ever since. She currently teaches the preschool class, child development, fashion design, and interior design at Baldwin. Pfatteicher loves the creative side of the classes she teaches.
“I want the kids to take from my classes that the more creative you are, and the more love and care you put into whatever it is you do, the better your experience is going to be,” Pfatteicher said.
That is the kind of experience that Class of 2017 alum Norwood had in her class. Pfatteicher encouraged his love of fashion and provided advice and assistance. As a result, he and a friend, Isaiah Priches, launched their own brand in high school, Mob 66, which was the focus of a fashion show at a school assembly.
“She was very supportive of our ideas and challenged us to grow in our art even outside of sewing,” Norwood said. “She showed us the discipline and patience required to sew and make clothing.”
Norwood continued to pursue fashion outside of high school; today, he is based in Atlanta and has a design and printing company called Norwood Creative while also running his own fashion brand, No Road Closed Here.
“I think about and use the skills from her class almost every day,” Norwood said.
While they were in high school, Pfatteicher gave Norwood and Priches one of her own vintage sewing machines.
“I didn’t need it, and so we donated it to them and they were so excited,” Pfatteicher said. “It was just seeing the look on their faces and realizing what they could accomplish.”
Schugg, a Class of 2013 alum, is a special education teacher at Harrison Middle School. He said he has blended some of Pfatteicher’s teaching strategies into his own classroom.
“Ms. P is the most loving teacher, with the right amount of strictness mixed in,” Schugg said. “She will tell you how it is, but with love. I try to bring across the same qualities as a teacher.”
Schugg appreciates the experiences and life lessons that he learned from Pfatteicher’s class.
“Looking back, one of the most meaningful parts of the class was that Ms. P let us have the power to lead, problem-solve, learn, and grow from our mistakes, with her guidance along the way,” Schugg said.
The connections Schugg made in Pfatteicher’s preschool class are still present at Baldwin today. Current senior Zach Lieu participated in the program back when he was a preschooler, and he was paired with Shugg in the class.
Lieu still remembers the impact that Schugg and the preschool program had on him.
“I definitely think the program has had a positive impact on my attitude towards school,” Lieu said. “My parents used to tell me how excited I was for school, always hoping to find another ‘Mr. RJ’ to make school a better place.”
Pfatteicher said Schugg was one of the kindest souls she has ever had in class.
“He just loved the kids. I remember him taking boxes and making this whole train for the kids,” Pfatteicher said.
Class of 2011 alum Faust, who is now an English as a Second Language teacher at McAnnulty Elementary, credited Pfatteicher for helping her realize that she wanted to go into education.
“Being in the preschool program made me change my mind on what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Faust said. “It made me apply to schools for teaching and it truly jump-started my teaching career. It made my senior year so memorable.”
In another intergenerational moment, Faust’s daughter, Grace, attended the preschool program last year. Grace still talks about her love for Pfatteicher and her preschool experience, Faust said.
“It truly feels like a full circle moment for me,” Faust said. “Fast forward 14 years later and my own daughter did the program as a preschooler and had the most amazing and magical experience with Mrs. P and her amazing teachers.”
When Pfatteicher realized that Grace was the daughter of one of her high school students from years earlier in the preschool class, she was overjoyed.
“It was amazing. There aren’t words to describe how great it is to have a previous student be a mom in the program, and then have their daughter. It’s the circle of life,” Pfatteicher said.
Moore, a Class of 2022 alum, took Pfatteicher’s fashion design class at a time when she was experimenting with her own fashion style.
“It made me a little self-conscious at times, but then I would walk into fashion design and Ms. P would always have something nice to say about whatever I was wearing,” Moore said.
Having a role model like Pfatteicher allowed Moore to explore her own style without feeling judged.
“I think having someone who was so kind and supportive, and who really took the time to talk to me about my interests and vintage styles, really helped me feel a lot more confident about myself and dressing in styles that weren’t really the norm,” Moore said.
Pfatteicher never realized the impact she had on Moore by complimenting the student’s style every day.
“I just thought she was the coolest girl ever, and I loved that she didn’t care if she fit in or not,” Pfatteicher said.
Pfatteicher’s current students also sing her praises. Seniors Helaine White and Becca Wilds explain her influence by citing her positive energy.
“Even if she is having a bad day, she makes sure that the students are okay first,” Wilds said. “All of her preschoolers and her high schoolers come before her.”
White points out that creating lesson plans for the preschool class can make high school students feel overwhelmed, but Pfatteicher is always able to ease their anxieties.
“She makes it okay to be nervous about something, or prepares you for the worst and the best,” White said.
Pfaffitcher recently helped expand the preschool program through the addition of student teaching opportunities at district elementary schools. These opportunities are for high school students who are interested in pursuing careers in education.
McAnnulty Principal Patricia Fusco worked with Pfatteicher on this expansion. Fusco credited Pfatteicher’s commitment in making this work.
“This would have never happened without Mrs. P’s support,” Fusco said. “We wanted this to work for the high school students, but the little kids love having the big kids in our classrooms.”
Senior Milana Varon is one of the students who participates in the student teaching program. Pfatteicher came to Varon and said she would be a great fit for this program.
“It felt like she really had faith in me that I could be a great educator, and it made me feel very good about myself,” Varon said.
Varon went to Pfatteicher and Michelle Malone, another teacher in the department, wondering how she could learn more about speech pathology through the new program. Pfatteicher and Malone spoke to Fusco about letting Varon observe speech sessions.
If that had not happened, Varon said, she would not have discovered her love for speech pathology as a college major and career.
“I most likely would’ve been undecided if it wasn’t for the process Ms. P and Mrs. Malone went through to get me not only in a kindergarten classroom, but a speech classroom as well,” Varon said.
Pfatteicher also has had an impact on her colleagues’ lives. Physical education teacher Timothy Laughlin said Pfatteicher has not only been a role model to him, but also to all of the children she teaches.
“Her passion to get you guys to understand how important it is to be good role models for kids is inspiring,” Laughlin said.
Malone has taught with Pfatteicher for years in the Fine and Practical Arts Department, and they have developed a strong friendship.
“She has helped make me a better teacher and a stronger person,” Malone said. “She has made me embrace my creative side and learn to be more spontaneous.”
Pfatteicher continuously improves the preschool program with her positive attitude and love for teaching, Malone said.
“Preschool is such a busy place to be, and her general sense of joy throughout the chaos and how she responds when things don’t go as planned makes it much easier to handle,” Malone said.
While Pfatteicher will be greatly missed in the district, she is looking forward to the time she will have for herself.
Her main reason to retire now is to spend more time with her adult daughter, who does not live in Pittsburgh. She has many hobbies that she would like to spend time on as well.
“I think I want to do more gardening,” Pfatteicher said. “I would like to volunteer at a farm and be with goats, dogs, and horses.”
Working at Baldwin has taught Pfatteicher many lessons, including that there is always a way to make a connection with the kids.
“Sometimes it takes a while to find, but you can find it,” Pfatteicher said.
She said she will miss having the ability to be creative in the classroom, thanks to the leeway that the district offers the teachers.
“I’ve loved my time here. It has been such a joyful experience,” Pfatteicher said.
