"I Am St. Francis"
The Ph.D. Perspective: Six Questions for Teachers Bob Bonvallet, Math (Dr. B), Diane Mercadante, Religion (Dr. Merc), and Tom Juliano, Science (Dr. J)
1. During your tenure at SFHS, what have you taught, moderated, coached?
Dr. B: I have taught AP Statistics, Honors Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry, and Advanced Algebra. I have been a Math Team coach most of the time I’ve been at St. Francis. I also moderated Chess Club for 12 years and Calculator Programming Club for three years.
Dr. Merc: When I first came to SFHS I taught Freshmen and Sophomore Religion before becoming the Director of Pastoral Ministry. I now teach one or two sections of senior Franciscan Spirituality. I am also directly involved with the Student Ministry Team, Kairos teams, lead service experiences and participate in the faith formation of our community.
Dr. J: Over my last five years at SFHS, I have taught Physics, Honors Physics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and Intro to Engineering and Design. I have moderated the Engineering Club for the last three years.
2. What is your doctorate degree? Why did you want to pursue a doctorate degree?
Dr. B: My doctorate is in Mathematics and I also have a Masters in Statistics. I pursued the doctorate degree because I enjoy math and I enjoyed the challenge and because I wasn’t sure exactly what career I wanted to pursue at the time.
Dr. Merc: I earned a Doctorate in Ministry (DMin) from the Catholic Theological Union in practical theology. I did not take a traditional route to education. I was older when I earned my bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry. From that moment on, I continued to take classes, earning my Masters in Theology and Certificate in Pastoral Studies. I found that my studies in theology were self-implicating and helped me to grow in my own faith, as well as help those that I was serving and teaching. I pursued the DMin class by class and completed my research on “Embodied Contemplative Practices in a Religion Curriculum”. I have found that everything I have ever learned is never wasted and that learning is a gift and a privilege to be shared.
Dr. J: My doctoral degree is in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University. After finishing my B.S. degree, I initially just wanted to get a master’s because I wasn’t yet sure where I wanted to work. I ended up getting funding to complete a Ph.D. degree and my graduate advisor helped talk me into the benefits of doing it. I also was happy to be the first in my family to complete a Ph.D. and at the time expected to do research for my career. I liked the challenge and focus it required to complete. Different experiences I had along the way eventually nudged me to go back to school for a teaching certification, and I haven’t looked back much ever since.
3. Why do you choose to teach at SFHS?
Dr. B: Teaching is my second career. I worked many years at AT&T-Bell Laboratories and at Lucent Technologies. Then I took an early retirement package from Lucent and found this teaching job at St. Francis. At the time I decided I would teach here for perhaps 10 years. That was 19 years ago and I’m still here because St. Francis is such a great place to work.
Dr. Merc: I was working in the public schools when I randomly checked in with a friend of mine working at St. Francis High School. I wanted to be in the classroom and use my education and SFHS had 2.5 openings in the Religion Department. I felt led to apply and fell in love with the community. I am very grateful every day to have made that call and that it landed me in a place I call home.
Dr. J: I enjoy that the students generally come from strong and supportive families, and there is a desire for inclusion throughout the school. Students have a strong desire to learn and do well and exhibit a great deal of honesty with me when they feel like a challenge is too much, or a better way to go about things. In my classes, I am blessed to encounter mostly happy students and that serves as my fuel for the day. I feel like I am constantly developing from them and learning about so many interesting things they do outside of class. The size of the school and the thread of compassion that runs through the school is just awesome.
4. How would your students describe your teaching philosophy/style?
Dr. B: I try to keep classes relaxed and informal. My goal is to have students look forward to math class every day. I like to keep reviewing the basic concepts and to keep the focus on the math rather than on new technologies, though I make use of occasional videos and Kahoot. In AP Statistics, we try to perform and analyze our own in-class experiments instead of just studying problems from a textbook.
Dr. Merc: My degree is in Practical Theology and I would say that fits my philosophy and style. As a graduate student, I had a teacher that ended every class with “so what”?” As a pastoral minister, formator, and teacher in religion, that question is especially important as we talk about faith and transformation. It is my hope and prayer that students can ask that question freely in my classroom, and struggle and reflect on the answer for their own lives. Offering opportunities for discovery, reflection, and experience is my challenge in the classroom daily. Accompanying students is a gift and this is a gift that significant faith-filled adults gave to me as a searching adolescent. I hope to pass that on and be a light and a companion on their faith journeys.
Dr. J: My classes are mostly lab-based classes, so my teaching style integrates lecture, hands-on, demonstrations, and discussion. Students say I’m pretty laid-back in my approach and am able to create a comfortable learning environment – I’m big on playing music when there are a group or independent activities in class. I just asked a student that walked into my room how they would answer, and they said, “engaging and interactive”. I try to keep students challenged, but not so much to be overbearing. In physics, most students report it to be a class that is by nature difficult to understand, so I try to be sensitive to this.
5. What do you do when students are struggling/How do you keep your students motivated when they are working through challenging problems?
Dr. B: Students are allowed to make up tests if they do poorly, and I will always find time to help them when they request help, whether in person or virtually, or through email.
As for challenging problems, patience and guidance from me are sometimes required, but I believe that any problem, no matter how challenging, can be solved by focusing on the big picture and then breaking the problem down into smaller steps.
Dr. Merc: My role and my subject naturally lend itself to practices that can help all of us as we are struggling with the stresses of life. Offering options to talk openly, to pray, to participate in guided meditations and other spiritual practices are a common part of the curriculum and a common part of our ministry. Helping to make faith accessible through practices is a goal of all those who teach religion and work in pastoral ministry, and we find ourselves doing a lot of deep listening and accompanying students in their daily lives.
Dr. J: I try to continue walking with them wherever they are at in their understanding – not telling them answers but empowering them to move through their challenges. I encourage them to come in outside of class time if it’s necessary and sometimes ask parents to help keep them encouraged too. I’ve found that second chances and some encouraging words can go a long way. Oftentimes, and this year is no exception, I find that there can be a lot behind their struggle in my class, such as duties at home, a job, other demanding classes, or sports, so I try to be understanding of that.
6. Describe an experience that occurred recently (within the last year) that illustrates what you believe SFHS is all about.
Dr. B: When the lockdown began last March everyone in the school was required to learn new computer tools and begin teaching and learning from home on very short notice. But the St. Francis community came together, supported each other, and made the transition very quickly and smoothly.
Dr. Merc: I spent a long time thinking about this question to narrow it down to one experience. I think that the daily visits from the students as they pop in to grab some candy or some stress relief lotion is the highlight of my day and demonstrates the love and comfort of the community. It’s in the post-it notes and surprises they leave around for us and the chance to be in their lives every day. They make us laugh and they care about their teachers as much as we care about them.
Dr. J: A few come to mind. During the Christmas season, in my classes I put the challenge out for them to bring in money for sponsored families in need. When all was said and done, we had about 80 different contributions and were able to provide about $7,500. For both Halloween and Valentine’s Day, I had a student this year that took it upon herself to keep everyone cheered up by bringing in small treats for her classmates. On another day, when I was doing intentions for prayers in class, a student said “I want to pray for all the teachers at St. Francis, because they are really focused on us, but students don’t pay much attention to the fact that what they’re doing is really challenging this year too.” This focus on “the other” is what I love about the fabric of SFHS.
7. What is one word you would use to describe your feeling toward St. Francis High School?
Dr. B: Grateful.
Dr. Merc: Family.
Dr. J: Unifying.