Mr. Tony

Mr. Anthony Cuomo, known as Mr. Tony, is a new Student Teacher Apprentice from Quinnipiac University. Mr. Tony is Mrs. Danielle Picagli’s student teacher, and he co-teaches in the Algebra and Statistics classes. Teaching, however, is not his first career. Before stepping into education, Mr. Tony spent decades as a computer engineer in sales. When that chapter of his life came to a close last June, he found himself asking what he wanted to do next. He began substitute teaching, and quickly discovered that he genuinely enjoyed being in the classroom. Students at Branford High responded to him just as warmly, which encouraged him to apply to Quinnipiac’s education program.

When Mr. Tony first decided to go into teaching, he was inspired by the students, “I wanted to help students. I look at it as a give back situation for the success I’ve had in my life. And when I went to Branford High School, what inspired me was the students and their reaction to me as a substitute teacher,” he shared, “substitute teachers are typically not looked upon very fondly. Typically not appreciated or well thought of. And I had the opposite experience of that at Branford High School. I was appreciated . . . So my inspiration was the students themselves.” 

Those early connections encouraged him to pursue teaching more seriously and apply to Quinnipiac’s program. And once he began student teaching full-time, another surprise followed, “The biggest surprise has been my love for the students. I knew I would like being with the students and enjoy being with the students. I did not realize I would be able to build a rapport with students very quickly. And so it’s been a surprise, and the love for the students and the

In the classroom, Mr. Tony’s background in engineering naturally blends with his teaching. He loves helping students work through problems step by step and seeing concepts “click.” He believes that math builds confidence and he takes pride in creating a space where students feel supported.

His mentor teacher, Mrs. Picagli, has seen that impact firsthand. She describes Mr. Tony as a positive, motivating presence who sets high expectations while remaining patient and approachable.

Mrs. Picagli says that Mr. Tony’s biggest strength as an educator is “his want and willingness and drive to be a teacher one day.” Mrs. Picagli sees great potential in Mr. Tony.  She says, “He’s going to be a great math teacher in a school system one day, I can’t wait to watch him graduate and get a job, and I’m happy to help him get there.” Mrs. Picagli’s one piece of advice to Mr. Tony as he continues his career is to “always remember to maintain a positive work-life balance that suits your needs and is sustainable”

A fun fact about Mr. Tony is that he was once a student at East Haven High School! He also founded the original chess club here when he was a sophomore, which recently inspired him to begin a chess club here again. He would play chess with students when work was complete, or during enrichment, which led one student to ask him if he wanted to start a chess club. After getting the approval, the new chess club began! Mr. Tony is very proud of this, “Everytime we get together, more and more students are coming. We’re in the midst of having a chess tournament school wide. And I’m very, very happy about the chess club. To me, chess is tied to math. Just strategic, very strategic. I see how much students are enjoying it. It’s something that freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors can all like and enjoy and play together. It brings the classes together, which is also important in high school.” If you’re interested in joining the chess club, reach out to Mr. Tony, or just walk right into their next meeting!

Ms. Cornacchia

Ms. Alexa Cornacchia is a Student Teacher Apprentice from Quinnipiac University. Last spring, Ms. Cornacchia was in PA school at Union College. She wanted to be a physician assistant. Ms. Cornacchia realized that PA school may not have been for her. She realized that she truly enjoyed the social part and talking to patients, so she decided to do something where she could combine her passion for helping people and making a difference in someone’s life, with biology. 

Despite the fact that Ms. Cornacchia’s major was not originally involving education, undergrad school still prepared her for the classroom. Ms. Cornacchia said that the biggest thing she learned in the classroom that college didn’t prepare her for was “communication. Like, that’s literally part of every day. Teaching students is all communication. A lot of group work in college. I was also on the women’s soccer team in college, so that was so much communication, like being on a team, learning how to work with different people. I think that translated well into where I am now, and my communication skills in the classroom.”

When Ms. Cornacchia first changed her career path, she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do, but ultimately she landed on teaching biology to high schoolers, “I wanted to be a mentor for my future students who can ask me questions about college or what my career path was.”

Ms. Rabecca Florio is Ms. Cornacchia’s mentor teacher. Ms. Cornacchia is truly thankful for Ms. Florio’s support in the classroom, “She’s helped so much. Like I didn’t have confidence at the beginning, of course, because I was brand new, and she’s been doing this a while. So I think she’s kind of instilled confidence in me. And when I’m questioning myself, she’d be like ‘why are you questioning yourself? Like you’re doing amazing.’ I think confidence is a big thing. And then she’s just a great mentor. She works extremely hard. And she does a lot and I think her work ethic has rubbed off on me. Having someone like that as a mentor makes a big difference.”

Ms. Florio sees great potential in Ms. Cornacchia, “She’ll be wonderful. Once she gets her footing and finishes this and her masters degree, she will go somewhere, it would be great if it would be us, with that whole year of experience, lesson planning, making units, and all of that under her belt. So she will definitely be a great addition somewhere.”  Ms. Cornacchia has many strengths, but according to Ms. Florio, her biggest strength is “her ability to reflect.” Being able to reflect and look back at what went well, and what didn’t, is extremely important when it comes to educating and being in a classroom, and Ms. Cornacchia knows how to do it! 

Ms. Florio’s main piece of advice for Ms. Cornacchia is to “be able to just be fluid. Just always keep that in the back of your mind. Don’t get frustrated by those things, just learn to work through them.” 

Mr. Rutt 

Mr. Carson Rutt is a new student teacher apprentice from Central Connecticut State University. Mr. Rutt grew up in Branford, so his placement at East Haven was close to home. 

Mr. Rutt has a 4 year degree in history and a certification in education. Mr. Rutt always knew that history was for him, “I remember when I was in the second grade my mother used to read to me a lot, and one time she went to the book fair and she bought me a bunch of books. And there was this very short US history book. And I picked it up and I started reading it, and I was like, wow, this is the most interesting thing ever. It was so cool. And that was my first introduction to history. And then I had a couple of really great teachers, and I was still super into history, so from then on I was like, ‘that is what I’m going to do with my life.”

The history part came easy to Mr. Rutt, but that’s only a small piece of it. His education classes were rigorous, but he was happy to be part of something so great, “The director of the history education program at Central, Professor Aimee Loiselle is amazing. I don’t think it would be possible for them to have a better teacher to run the program.” 

While observing Mr. Adam Gardner, his mentor teacher, Mr. Rutt learned a lot about classroom management. He also learned that it is important to have balance,“You need to be a little laissez faire with how you exercise authority, because you don’t want to be too strict and then they become disinterested in the work, because then nobody wins. I think the biggest takeaway is you have to know when to apply your authority.”

The most rewarding thing for Mr. Rutt was really just, “the whole thing. Being able to finally do it. I’ve been in school for four years. It’s nice to finally stand in front of the kids and deliver content, and when they enjoy it, it’s nice.”

Mr. Rutt wants anyone who’s interested in education to know that, “Central [Connecticut State University] is great. I’d recommend it to anyone who goes there for the history ed program. Get into teaching if you think you might enjoy it. I would strongly recommend it.” 

When describing Mr. Rutt, his mentor teacher Mr. Adam Gardner highlighted his curiosity and willingness to learn, which are qualities he believes are essential for success in the classroom. “He’s very curious. He wants to know how to be a good teacher, what works and what doesn’t work. He wants to know different strategies. And he wants to know the student body itself, like he wants to know what the student needs, which is great because usually as a first year teacher you’re worried about your workload and what you’re doing.” Mr. Gardner also added that Mr. Rutt brings a level of care and attentiveness that stands out, “He genuinely seems to be concerned with things like, what are kids doing, what are they capable of, what do they need help with? He’s pretty solid with that.”

Another strength that Mr. Gardner pointed out is, “He’s very prepared. He will reach out to me, ask me questions or input on the content, he’ll share his lesson plans and materials days in advance, which I haven’t seen before. He also takes the feedback that I leave and makes changes accordingly. So yeah, not only does he know the content, but he’s coming in days in advance knowing and expecting what to do.” 

When asked what his biggest piece of advice for Mr. Rutt would be, Mr. Gardner emphasized something that he thinks all teachers face,“It’s called wait time. Like allowing the kids either to struggle or figure something out. It’s getting kids to figure out what’s going on rather than paying attention to things like, I need to meet certain timelines or deadlines or due dates. So again, not really just for him, but all teachers struggle with the wait time aspect of, ‘how long do I give kids to figure it out.” Framing this as advice, Mr. Gardner encouraged all educators to remember that learning often happens in the moments where students are working things out for themselves.