A ‘heart’ for helping kids
IT TOOK Glen Pandolfino a few years to find his true calling as a high school teacher.
But his previous stints in the import/export field, as a hazardous materials specialist and as an investment associate on Wall Street have served him well in the classroom.
“I really can’t imagine doing anything else,” said Pandolfino, 46, who has spent the last 12 years teaching at the High School for Environmental Studies in Hell’s Kitchen. “Every day is different. It’s never boring.”
Pandolfino teaches global history and U.S. history as well as a macro and micro economics Advanced Placement class.
His students compete with other schools in a virtual stock market game in which they buy stocks and bonds and learn to diversify a portfolio.
But Pandolfino’s colleagues say it’s his compassion for students and their needs that sets him apart. He saves seats in his classes for special-education students. And when the school library was set to close because there was no one to staff it, he moved his classes there so it could remain open for all students.
“Mr. Pandolfino is an excellent teacher, but it is more than that,” said his colleague and school guidance counselor Jody Wurzel. “You could have a million degrees, teach every AP course, but if you don’t have a heart, you aren’t reaching the kids. And he reaches them.”
Pandolfino has been nominated for a Daily News Hometown Heroes in Education award. Parents, students and educators from around the city have been telling The News about the extraordinary school staffers who make a difference every day.
The winners will be selected by a panel of esteemed judges and celebrated at an Oct. 1 breakfast.
In 2009, Pandolfino saw promise in Henry Chen, a sophomore with Asperger syndrome. He persuaded Henry to take his global studies class and mentored him. The teen eventually aced his AP macroeconomics class and went on to help tutor other students.
“Henry is why I became a teacher,” Pandolfino said.
The energetic educator is working on a plan to increase parental involvement in schools and is a recent appointee to Manhattan’s Community Board 8.
“It’s a steep learning curve, but it gives me the opportunity to look at education differently,” he said.
This year, Pandolfino is working on an economics project to assign each of his students a country. They will become “specialists” and become familiar with what the country produces as well as income and unemployment levels. He said it’s an effort to engage students by connecting theory with reality.
“Being around kids keeps you young,” he said. “They inspire you and you inspire them.”