Jul 20

Jul 20 Heart Earned Education

Teacher Of The Year Mary Piccirilli Was Born To Lead Classrooms

By Raoul Dennis

A few years ago, on any given afternoon at her home in Bowie, Mary, a pre-teen with bright, wide eyes and a truckload of energy and determination demanded that her class come to attention and get ready for the lesson of the day.

The chairs were all set, the child-size chalkboard was in position and Mary, who had a knack for getting the kids who otherwise couldn’t wait for three o’clock to get out of school, motivated them to sit in her classroom and pretend they were in school for fun.

Although that was her routine as a youth, it was never just a game. Hide & Go Seek was a game. Teaching class was everything to Mary.

“I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I invited all the kids in the neighborhoods into the basement. I would give them assignments, I would give them grades. I made my little brother and big sister ‘come to school.’ I always knew that I wanted to impact the lives of students,” says Mary Piccirilli, the Prince George’s County 2020 Teacher of the Year.

Piccirilli has been a part of the Prince George’s County School system for seven years. As part of the award, the Cooper Lane Elementary School teacher earned a vehicle from Pohanka Automotive. She was thrilled with the recognition but the biggest thrill has been to be recognized for what she believes is part of her calling in life.

“I’m living the dream,” Piccirilli says of the work she was driven to do before she was tall enough to write a lesson plan on a real blackboard. “I’m doing what I love. People go to work and have a job but I’m fortunate that I can be excited to see what my kids bring, to see their faces, hear about their weekend…I’m able to do what I love for a living.”

Piccirilli is a third-generation Prince Georgian and a master’s degree graduate of the University of Maryland University College. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Towson University.

She says teaching in 2020 is different but the pandemic makes the basic teaching skills all the more important.

“It boils down to students being the priority,” she explains. “I maintained a relationship with students no matter what. Communication is so important.” The third-grade teacher includes what she calls Virtual Lunch Brunches as part of her strategy. She and the kids meet with sandwiches and just talk – no academics - they just eat and talk. It’s a communication and bonding effort that contributes in the classroom experience.

“You have to know your students and their strengths and motivations and their weaknesses,” Piccirilli says. “Know them and collaborate with the other teachers within your building. You need to be able to say to them: ‘I have this child who struggles with this, how have you addressed this’ because at the end of the day, it takes a village to support a child,” she says. “Whether you are reaching out to the special education teacher or the ESL teacher or math instructional lead teacher, it takes a village and knowing that student will allow you to make sure you get them what they need to be successful,” she says.

Piccirilli recalls a specific student who struggled with multiplication facts (formerly known as multiplication tables). He was beginning to shut down in the classroom and in his own work as a result of a confidence drain.

“I decided I needed a whole different approach,” she says. “I started meeting with this child every other day during lunch and I began creating games for him to play that worked on multiplication facts. He thought he was playing a game but he was learning at the same time. It took him out of the element of being with his peers and being self-conscious about learning the math facts and more on working on the material and building his confidence. He mastered the multiplication facts and for him there was this huge aha! moment: “Ms. P, I learned my multiplication facts! I’m ready for fourth grade!”

Mary Piccirilli with her new SUV at Teacher Of The Year.

Piccirilli’s new SUV comes with a three-year lease courtesy of Pohanka Honda of Capitol Heights (a member store of Pohanka Automotive Group).

In addition to Pohanka Automotive Group, Wegmans, Starbucks, Texas Roadhouse, Educational Systems Federal Credit Union and Staples also partnered with Prince George’s County Public Schools in the Teacher of The Year effort.

“I’m so thankful and honored to be with the Prince George’s County Public Schools,” she says.

Likewise, all agreed.