By Angelina Tang, Emma Wu
As Mrs. DeSantis retired in early February, the East Main Office has undergone some shifts, including welcoming a new assistant principal and athletics director, Ms. Spada! As a people-person who has a plethora of experience in class instruction, athletic coaching, as well as support work, Ms. Spada is the perfect candidate for this position, in addition to being an East alum.
The Main Office has shifted Mr. Suchyna to Mrs. DeSantis’s former position, so Ms. Spada has taken on his former position as athletic director and assistant principal. Although she’s assigned for students with the last names A-E, she truly looks out for everybody at East, from staff to student, ensuring that they have a productive learning environment and can receive support when needed. After school, she’s in charge of the sports teams, helping the athletic department obtain all of the resources they need for the student athletes to be successful.
Prior to taking on the title of assistant principal, she was the technology instructional coach at East. This allowed her to work with teachers, teaching them how to use technology and make class more engaging with all of the programs at our disposal on chromebooks. Her job now, as the assistant principal, is quite different from before, in which she now works more with students rather than teachers. However, to her, there isn’t much difference between teaching students rather than teachers. While she comments that, “I’m not working in the classrooms as much and seeing that curriculum as much,” she still carries all of the experience she gained as a tech coach, giving her a “more worldly view of what’s going on in the school.”
Surprisingly, Ms. Spada only started working at East at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year! Before East, she had plenty of experience in working with and understanding students, as she was a teacher at Forest Elementary School for the first grade. The change from elementary to high school, she says, was a much bigger change in her career. In high school, many things are a lot more independent and she has to support everyone in different ways.
The decision to move her career from elementary-level education to high school tech work was a difficult one. However, it was motivated by a desire to make a bigger impact on the educational world. Ms. Spada went to SUNY Geneseo for an undergrad program in Childhood and Special Education. However, when she started teaching, she recalls, “I realized I wanted more students. I wanted to try and make as big of a difference as I possibly could and help as many people in my community as I possibly could.” She thus started to lean towards administration, getting a masters degree in Literacy Specialism at SUNY UB and later completing an online program to obtain an administration degree during the pandemic quarantine. “I decided that if I wanted to be an administrator, I needed to get my experience not just at the elementary level, but also at the high school level. Our tech position allowed me to do that and make that change… I’m so thankful I did, as now I’m here!”
Working here at East also brings her life in a full circle, as she’s an East alumna. Aside from there being more walls at East than there were when she went to school, she comments that the largest change that she sees is in technology. She believes that our usage of technology today is great, allowing everyone to get more involved and hands-on in class. When she went to school, whenever the students wanted to use technology, they would have to go to the library. Now, there are chromebooks right in the classrooms–something that has greatly changed our curriculum as well.
The pandemic also taught her a lot about technology and how it could be used in the classroom. She was teaching 1st grade when the pandemic hit, and this shift in teaching taught her all the different ways of engaging the class through tech–an experience that inspired her later work as a tech coach. “We’ve learned [that] we need to be more engaging. We need to give students more of a voice in what they’re doing, and choice in what they’re doing, so that it is more hands-on and engaging for [everyone].”
To her, the major thing about East is the culture, which she feels has remained the same throughout all of these years. “The expectations are the same as to how we’re pushing our students to do well and be involved and be responsible and independent… to take ownership in their learning.” In fact, it was the teachers she had in her education that inspired her to enter the education field. “I always tried to be a really good student, but growing up, those teachers who make an impact on you and make you love learning–I loved that, so I wanted to be that person for other kids.” She finds it funny that she sees teachers she was taught by and still admire at East!
With respect to her career in sports, she was both the JV and Varsity Soccer coach at South High School for 6 years, before she became their Varsity Track and Field coach for indoor and outdoor track and field. She coached in the afternoon while teaching elementary school during the day. These were the same two sports she did as an East student, in addition to doing club soccer at Geneseo. The experience was refreshing and engaging for her, as she got to experience the blend of different personalities and needs that come with different people. “I like to think that I’m a people person! I like to be out… and getting to know everyone, even in this role now, walking the halls and trying to get to the games and practices and see everyone… not just so I can help them, but also so that they know that if they need help with anything, then they can come down and take a moment to sit down and chat.” Her love of sports doesn’t stop there, she is engaged in sports outside of school too! She loves going to sports events around the city, mirrored by her enthusiasm for the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen, whom she has a large cardboard cutout of in her office. She also enjoys hiking and taking walks with her family and pet dog. She loves spending time with her family and friends through their bonding activities.
Ms. Spada was inspired to go into the educational field by her own teachers, who made a deep impact on her growing up. “I always tried to be a really good student,” she says, “Those teachers who make you love learning–I wanted to be that person for other kids.” Who you are and your childhood experience are both deeply influential on the person you become, and her desire to help the community is one she can fulfill through teaching. She’s in the perfect position to support students here at East!
Among her many ways of helping us out, her biggest piece of advice to East students is, “Enjoy your time in high school, because it’s not a time that you’ll be able to have again. Enjoy your experience, do everything you can. Don’t try to rush growing up; just enjoy your time here.” In addition, she would like everyone to know that she’s here for you and happy to help you out. “If you see me around the building, say hi! I don’t want people to know me as ‘Oh, I have to go down to her because I’m in trouble,’ but that I’m here to… be that comforting ear for them, so that they can have that great high school experience.” We welcome Ms. Spada to the East Main Office team, and we can’t wait to spend lots of time with her!
