How long have you been a math teacher, and how long have you been working at Sacred Heart Greenwich?
“This past January marked the beginning of my forty-eighth year of teaching. I have been at Sacred Heart for the last ten years of my teaching career.”
Why did you decide to become a teacher, and more specifically, when did you decide to teach math?
“Ever since kindergarten, I have always loved school. Growing up I was surrounded by role models – both my mom and Godmother were members of the teaching profession. My mother taught Spanish and Italian to junior high school students, and my Godmother was a college professor. I always looked forward to my mom coming home from work when the two of us shared stories of what happened at school that day and proceeded to do our homework together. She would work on lesson plans and correcting papers, and I would work on completing my assignments. I thrived in school; math was always my favorite subject. In high school, I volunteered both as a candy striper in a nearby hospital as well as a math tutor for an after-school teenage/adult education program. In college, I majored in mathematics and minored in psychology/sociology. My master’s degree is in special education, and my doctorate is in educational administration. In the late sixties and early seventies when I was growing up, women’s career options were limited; women became nurses, secretaries, housewives, or teachers. I chose teaching as my vocation partly because I realized how much my mom loved what she did and how fulfilling she found it. To this day, I am happy that I did.  I can truly say that I am one of the lucky ones, having found my niche early on in life. I look forward to teaching and have never really considered it a job. Teaching continues to provide me with intangible rewards and many reasons to smile.”
What is the Sunshine Committee, and what exactly does it do?
“I began teaching at Sacred Heart in the fall of 2008.  In my previous school, we had a “Sunshine Committee” which highlighted opportunities for celebration. I decided to initiate a similar committee here at Sacred Heart. The committee is composed of a number of volunteers who help to spread positivity and goodwill throughout the school year. We celebrate holidays with special treats, ease those hectic days with mailbox surprises, salute certain times of the academic year with faculty breakfasts, provide goodies at monthly division meetings, and honor staff birthdays with presents and, of course, singing and delicious birthday cakes. Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers we are able to provide each other with well-deserved symbolic pats on the back and spread sunshine and cheer.”
The King Street Chronicle thanks Upper School Math Teacher Dr. Rosemary Barbato for her contributions to “Humans of Sacred Heart.”
Photo by Katie McCabe, News Editor
-Compiled by Katie McCabe, News Editor