Page 3 - Italian American Herald - November 2020

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
ACHIEVERS
Life as a series of lessons taught and lessons learned
NOVEMBER 2020 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 3
Vol. 7 No. 11 – November 2020
A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER SERVING THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
A DIVISION OF TODAY MEDIA Publisher
Robert F. Martinelli
Art Director
Shelby Mills
This issue’s contributors
Melissa Cannavo-Marino Frank Cipparone Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo Charlie Sacchetti Murray Schulman
Senior correspondent
Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
Managing Editor
Al Kemp
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Charles W. Tomlinson Jr.
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Tanya Tecce
Audience Development Director
David Bergeman
Production Director
Donna Hill
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Eric Bolis Chris Johnson Rosalinda Rocco
Editor emeritus
Joseph T. Cannavo
Ciao Bella Living Italian Style
Barbara Ann Zippi
TODAY MEDIA, A MARTINELLI HOLDINGS LLC
President Robert F. Martinelli Secretary-Treasurer Richard Martinelli
In Memoriam
Chairman Angelo R. Martinelli (1927-2018) Vice President Ralph Martinelli (1962-2019)
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Contents
Achievers .................................... 3-4 From the Cover ............................... 5 It’s All Good .................................... 6 News From Italy.............................. 8 Per I Bambini .................................. 9 Pagina Italiana ................................ 9 The Chef’s Perspective ..................10 Vini D’Italia ....................................12 Local .............................................13 Language ......................................14
By Pete Kennedy
When Nancy Matteo was growing
up in northeast Philadelphia, her neighborhood was growing too. Homes were still being constructed in her development, and she would venture into the woods to find spare drywall dumped by the builders.
“We figured out that if you peeled the cardboard off both sides, the inside was chalk,” she said. “I would have all the neighborhood kids sitting on the curb, and I would chalk in the street. I taught them everything I knew — the alphabet, how to read, addition and subtraction.”
Matteo, 63, is now the president of St. Andrew School, a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade Catholic school in Newtown, Bucks County. She previously worked as a principal and teacher there.
Her philosophy is simple: “Education must be as enjoyable as possible to make it memorable.”
“I’ll talk to former students, who have kids of their own, and they’ll say, ‘Mrs.
Matteo, I’ll never forget how to spell dessert, because you told us the two S’s stand for strawberry shortcake,’” she said.
Matteo is a product of Catholic education herself. She graduated from Nazareth Academy in Philadelphia, studied education and Spanish at Holy Family University, and earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from Gwynedd Mercy University.
Between her years as student and educator, she moved to Texas with her husband, Richard.
one day for a simple dye job, and Richard stretched it out for weeks.
“Every other day I’d go back, ‘Are my shoes done?’ ‘Oh, not yet,’” she said.
Eventually, Richard parlayed the shoe job into a date. They’ve been married 41 years. Richard’s work for Payless Shoes took
the newlyweds to Texas.
“There’s not a lot of Italian culture in
Dallas,” she said. “It was really difficult to find good Italian food, or even ingredients. And because I have a northeastern accent and I’m Italian, people right away assumed I knew the mafia.”
They fared better in San Antonio, where she and Richard were thrilled
to discover a huge Italian festival with authentic Italian food. Sitting at a picnic table, they noticed a man sitting near them with a small Eagles insignia on
his shirt — a fellow Philly transplant who helped introduce them to the local Italian-American society.
“He became one of our best friends. He’s my daughter’s godfather,” Matteo said.
After the births of their son and daughter, the Matteos decided to move back to Philadelphia, so their children would know their grandparents.
Matteo began substitute teaching before being hired as a second-grade teacher
at St. Andrew. After 11 years in the classroom, she spent a year running the school’s pre-kindergarten program. The monsignor then asked her to serve as St. Andrew’s principal, a job she loved and held for 16 years. In 2012, she received the Distinguished Principal Award
from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA).
In 2019, the school switched to a new administrative model, and Matteo was named president. In the new role, she focuses on the spiritual health
of the school, as well as fundraising, admissions, strategic planning, alumni relations and the facilities management.
“I’m really enjoying it. The only drawback is I don’t get to work as much with the children,” she said. “But I do bus duty in the morning and afternoon.”
“Education must be as enjoyable as
possible to make it memorable.” – Nancy Matteo
The couple met when they both worked in Woodhaven Mall — he managed a shoe store, and she worked at a fabric shop. She stopped by his store
If the dawn of her teaching career was the curbside lessons using makeshift chalk, Matteo said she’s now enjoying its twilight.
She has won three Distinguished