After 37 years of teaching, Sheila Abruzzo is retiring from her position as a Learning Enrichment (LE) teacher. In a career focused on relationships, Abruzzo leaves behind a legacy of putting students first.
Teaching was not Abruzzo’s first thought. She began her secondary education at the University of Arizona with a major in nuclear engineering. After a year, Abruzzo realized that nuclear engineering fit her interests, but not her personality. She switched her major to elementary education and never looked back.
Abruzzo taught first and second grade for 20 years before moving to elementary learning enrichment and eventually up to the high school level. Abruzzo described her favorite part of working with learning enrichment students.
“Working with students who are highly motivated, want to get the most out of their education, interested in feedback and asking for advice. I feel like I am working with students that love education as much as I do, and that is really not the case when you’re working in the general population,” Abruzzo said.
Senior Emma Brown began working with Abruzzo in her freshman year as a student in the learning enrichment program. Since then, she has worked with Abruzzo all four years of high school.
“I think Abruzzo is just someone who’s always exceptionally supportive. Because she’s an LE teacher, for me in my freshman and sophomore year, she did all of my scheduling, all of my coordinating. I always felt like she was somebody I could talk to, and she always listened to what I had to say and really helped me make my schedules for those years and make sure I wasn’t too overwhelmed, make sure everything was going well,” Brown said.
While working with students, Abruzzo focuses on giving them as much voice as possible.
“We have two ears and one mouth, and I think it’s really important to listen twice as much as you speak. And I think when I’m working with students, I want to hear all about them and all about their interests, and then if they have questions or they need some guidance, I’m happy to share that,” Abruzzo said. “But I think often I want students to kind of talk their way through solving a problem. And when I’m talking about solving a problem, it’s not a math problem anymore. It’s not a social studies problem, it’s a life problem or a life thought. And so helping to guide through that.”
This strategy has proven effective as Abruzzo has helped countless students achieve their goals. Kerry O’Melia, Learning Enrichment para and longtime colleague of Abruzzo, explained what stands out about her teaching.
“Abruzzo chooses to put the student first and their needs, and is not afraid to tailor [to] how their needs should be met. In other words, if a student has a very unique situation, she likes to go above and beyond to help fulfill that situation,” O’Melia said.
Abruzzo and O’Melia’s relationship is a key part of the learning enrichment program, as they have built a partnership as well as a friendship. This has led them to serve as advisers for a variety of clubs, including Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl and Ocean Bowl. Both cite this as one of their favorite parts of teaching.
“The relationship you build in the club is a little bit different than a lot of the relationships you build in the class, only because you travel together, you’re in hotels and in vans and preparing for competitions. The most important part to me about teaching is building those relationships with students and having them build relationships with me. And I work really hard with the things like the question of the week, and those kinds of things to do that in the class. It’s an even deeper relationship with those kids in clubs,” Abruzzo said.
As an officer in Science Bowl and Quiz Bowl, Brown has enjoyed the freedom, along with the support that Abruzzo has given in her leadership position.
“She really lets the club officer teams lead the club. She is very on top of all the logistical work, makes sure everything goes well, but also she respects our opinions on what we think the club should be and lets us make a lot of the decisions, which has also been really nice,” Brown said. “I feel like I’ve had more of a real experience of leadership in those clubs because she takes a more hands-off approach and lets the club officers make the decisions. It gives more of a sense [that] we’re actually responsible for the fate of the club instead of being there and then the adviser makes some decisions.”
Relationships are central in everything Abruzzo does. Due to the unique nature of her position, Abruzzo is not focused on teaching a curriculum, but solely on being responsive to the needs of her students.
“Relationships are huge. Relationships need voices. They need eye contact. They need conversation,” Abruzzo said. “Develop those meaningful relationships and nurture them because I think that’s going to take you a long way further even then, being in the highest math class by the time you’re a sophomore. Those relationships, that networking is going to take you further than anything else in your life.”
Abruzzo’s contributions to the learning enrichment program will long be remembered by students and colleagues alike. O’Melia described her feelings about Abruzzo’s retirement.
“I look forward to work every day, and the biggest reason is because we work together in the same room every day. That’s really important to me to feel really good about coming to work. Definitely disappointed to see her go, but super excited for her new chapter and enjoying her life. She’s put in 37 years. That’s not typical for teaching, so it’s about time,” O’Melia said.
Brown noted Abruzzo’s personality as well.
“I really admire the way she just treats everyone around her. She always treats all her students and all the people in her clubs with so much respect and kindness. And it always feels like she really is looking out for you in your best interest. So that really inspires me and I want to be somebody who people think of like that,” Brown said.
As for life following retirement, Abruzzo is hoping to spend more time with her husband and family. Additionally, she and O’Melia have started a business that they are looking to grow. They do special event planning with a focus on hosting at the customers’ home, in hopes of bringing back social events that have died off following the COVID-19 pandemic.
With overall bittersweet feelings about retirement, Abruzzo reflected on her gratitude for her career.
“The relationships I built with students, and when I see students that I had in first grade say, ‘Mrs. Abruzzo, oh my gosh.’ And I look at them and think, who are you? Because they were this tall when I worked with them, and now they’re this tall. And I think I have made an impact on colleagues, on students. I have had parents say to me, ‘you’ve really had an impact on my student and on my child,’” Abruzzo said. “I hope they remember me as someone who was positive, who was supportive, who also knew when to give a little nudge too, because students need a little nudge sometimes. I hope that my lasting memory is someone that had an impact in some way that took students to the next level.”
