By Liz Crawford and Sarah Brunskill
From gracing our un-walled halls with her cheery attitude to busting out a lyric or two from whatever song she has stuck in her head that class, Ms. Costanzo proudly stands out as a staple member of the Williamsville East math department. During our semi-impromptu interview, we got to the bottom of what makes Ms. Costanzo such a personable teacher.
How she got into teaching
The origin story begins at the not-too far away, but close enough to home Brockport College, where a young Ms. Constanzo took her first steps into teaching. Growing up, she knew that teaching was the path for her, but what discipline to get a degree in was a bit more of a coin toss, starting off as a middle school interest in Social Studies before making a more decided turn towards mathematics. Ms. Costanzo noted that the decisiveness of math was what really won her over, “I have always liked the fact that there is always an answer.” She added, “It’s not very subjective like English can be. With math and science there is an actual answer.”
Who would win a fight, Merida or Mulan?
Steering towards the even more burning questions, we decided to bring some Disney controversy to the interview, with a spontaneous query into who would win a fight, Merida or Milan? Keeping it real, Disney enthusiast Ms. Constanzo responded,“Mulan is pretty kick *beep* ” (yes, she actually said beep). Costanzo also added, “She is pretty awesome and so is the soundtrack”. In addition to her love for Disney, Ms. Costanzo is an avid music listener and movie watcher. Perhaps the best intersection of these interests can be found in Disney’s Hercules. During the interview Ms. Costanzo proclaimed her love for the film, “I really like Meg from Hercules – definitely a movie not many have seen and the music is AMAZING”. Mrs. Costanzo is much more than a math teacher and here is a small taste of who she is and how she became the amazing teacher she is today.
Blossoming love for theater and music
Ms. Costanzo grew up as a dancer and by the end of high school she tried her hand at singing and dancing together. Interestingly enough, Ms. Constanzo mentioned that she studied theater more as an adult rather than in high school. In addition to her commitment to the stage, Ms. Constanzo’s love for theater has also transformed into a love of live theater performances, such as the musicals and plays hosted at Shea’s. At the moment she does not have Shea’s season tickets, but Ms. Constanzo lays this blame at the feet of Saint Old Nick, joking that Santa never brings her tickets. As a true music neutralist, Ms. Constanzo imparts that she doesn’t have a favorite song, but she loves some good old Billy Joel or Bruno Mars. She jokingly added that, “15 years ago it would have been Taylor Swift.”
A reader could potentially find music enthusiast, Ms. Costanzo, advising Band Against Bullying or joking around with the rest of the Math department. Yet in the end, highlighting the amazing and heartfelt teaching of teachers like Ms. Costanzo makes the highs and lows of high school all the more navigable when there is such a lovely teacher one unwalled room away.
