Teacher leads students to national recognition
Published: August 15, 2005
Rosanne Pucciarelli, who teaches history at St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights, always loved the subject but never thought she would be a teacher. She always imagined she’d go into research or a different branch of the field.
“When kids played school, I played anthropologist,” Pucciarelli said.
Still when she was offered a position at St Joseph while in graduate school, she jumped at the chance. And Pucciarelli is glad she did.
“It’s the greatest gig on the planet,” she said. “It becomes your passion. Every day is different. Kids are so alive. And they work so hard. I wish the school could take credit for them, but it’s the parents.”
She may not take credit for her students’ accomplishments, but that doesn’t mean Pucciarelli hasn’t been involved with many a student’s success, including the National History Day projects that have flourished with her help for more than twenty years.
National History Day, which about 900,000 students nationwide participate in on local, regional, and national levels, has been held for twenty-five years.
Students can participate as individuals or in a group in a variety of categories, such as performance and video.
Each year a different theme is selected. This year’s was “Communications in History”.
While St. Joseph’s has a great track record all levels of the competition, this year has been particularly successful.
A team of three St. Joseph’s seniors, Julie Arvay, Patrick Pugliese, and Brandon Keller placed first in the nation at History Day in the senior group documentary category. The big win is a first for the school and somewhat of a surprise for Pucciarelli.
“I knew they’d win,” she said. “I didn’t know they’d take first place. We’ve never had a first place win, so we’re quite ecstatic.”
The student’s winning video, “Please Adjust the Color”, examined the portrayal of African Americans in television.
The 10 minute documentary includes interviews with Pittsburgh-area college professors, local news anchors, and some pretty notable national figures like actor Henry Winkler, Marla Gibb from the television show “The Jeffersons”, and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
“There are these seventeen-year old kids and they tracked down and interviewed all these people,” Pucciarelli said. “Jesse Jackson called them from Paris–it was so sweet of him to do that.”
Though she said she’s only there to motivate the students and make sure their work is accurate, Pucciarelli received some recognition as well.
Last year she was honored as the History Day’s Pennsylvania History Teacher of the Year.
Pucciarelli says interest in history at St. Joseph’s is high, in part, because of the annual event. The students aren’t just doing it for a grade, they’re working for “bragging rights” she said. And if Pucciarelli’s dedication inspires them to look deeper into her favorite subject, that’s alright with her.
“I just do my job, the kids do the extraordinary work,” she said. “I love history and hope they do, too.”
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