Tedeschi is Always Ready for Adventure
When the word “adventure” is uttered Camille Tedeschi leaps to her feet. The Huntington High School social studies teacher has been known to travel to faraway lands. Yet, some of the biggest adventures are found right in her classroom.
Although she’s now “all Huntington,” Ms. Tedeschi graduated from nearby Walt Whitman High School in 1998. Her favorite subject was social studies. She earned the Most Talkative Award as a senior. That doesn’t surprise her Huntington colleagues and students.
Although she’s at home in her classroom, in recent years Ms. Tedeschi has visited Italy, Greece, Spain and Peru during private trips with large groups of teenagers as a tour leader along with fellow Huntington teacher Pam Piffard. A trip to southern Italy is on the schedule for this year. The opportunity of going on such excursions is “one of the best parts of being a teacher,” Ms. Tedeschi says.
Bright, energetic, enthusiastic and detail oriented, Ms. Tedeschi was awarded an undergraduate degree at Pace University in Manhattan in 2002 and later obtained a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in social studies education at Stony Brook University. She’s now studying for a second Master’s degree in library science at Queens College and expects to graduate in May 2011.
As a Pace undergraduate something “clicked” while Ms. Tedeschi studied education and women’s and gender studies. She also had a concentration in New York City history and psychology.
“When I started college I thought I was going to become a lawyer, but in my second semester I worked as a tutor as part of a work study program and fell in love with teaching,” she said. “My first placement was in a kindergarten classroom, which was not for me, so I was placed in a high school and from my first day there I knew it was what I was meant to do.”
Even before she completes her second Master’s degree, Ms. Tedeschi is already eyeing her next challenge. “Law school is still a goal of mine in the future because I would like to work a second job in a law school as law librarian when I retire,” she said. “I love school and always have.”
“Any opportunity I can take to enhance my learning and teaching, I take it,” she said. “I apply to a lot of programs that involve travel because as much as I love my job I also love to travel the world as much as I can. I am a lifelong learner.”
This is a teacher who not only “talks-the-talk” but “walks the walk” as evidenced by her thirst for knowledge and professional growth. She’s studied at Columbia University (China and the cultures of the Silk Road), the American Forum for Global Education (China and Vietnam study tour), Beijing University (Chinese history and modernization), the University of Colorado (Program for Teaching East Asia- Visualizing Japan: Teaching Japanese History through the arts) and the China Institute (art and language).
“I also regularly visit museums for special exhibits and I enjoy taking my students, particularly my tenth grade classes on field trips as often as I can,” Ms. Tedeschi said. “One of my favorite areas of study is East Asia.”
Since coming to Huntington High School, Ms. Tedeschi has been immersed in its activities, from coaching the JV cheerleading squad for six years to advising students and coordinating the sprawling National History Day competition for seven years. She was an advisor for the Class of 2009 and is now advising the Class of 2012. She even works after school in library.
Always ready with a fast quip, Ms. Tedeschi is especially proud of having developed a pair of high school courses: Women’s Studies and AP World History. She taught in the alternative high school program for three years and is currently mentoring a new teacher.
Colleagues have found her to be confident, creative, innovative, dedicated and caring. She’s been known to develop challenging and though provoking lessons and research assignments. She encourages creative thinking, individual approaches to learning and hands-on experiences.
“I believe organization is the key to success for me and my students,” Ms. Tedeschi said. “My goal is to bring history alive, and in many cases I have visited the places I am teaching them about. I love to share my experiences and knowledge with my students and colleagues.”
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