We all became teachers – All 5 of us!

Teaching is a wonderful profession – it is a special vocation given to those who are willing to devote their lives to learning, not only about their subject but also to learning from their students. It has often been said that learning is a lifelong process. Good teachers never tire of developing their talents, honing their skills, and instilling their knowledge into their students. We can all remember one or two teachers we have had – on various levels – who made an impression on us, whose names we can still remember – and whose classes we enjoyed.

My family was a family of teachers. All my brothers were teachers by profession, and I even taught briefly. Let me share with you how teaching was a profession well-lived in the Chappetto family.

Charlie entered the Salesians of Don Bosco – a Religious order – immediately after high school. He started out his career by teaching cabinet making and woodworking at Salesian High Schools. He eventually received a college degree and later a master’s degree and began teaching English and Remedial Reading at the high school level. After leaving the Religious life, he continued his teaching career in public high schools until his retirement because of health issues from which he died at the early age of 54.

Lou was a bright student – who decided to get his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, back-to-back, at Manhattan college in the Bronx. He spent his whole teaching career at the high school level, first at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn and then at high schools in California, where he eventually settled.

Although I felt called to the priesthood, I often thought, had I not become a priest, I probably would have been a teacher, probably on the high school level. I always enjoyed visiting classrooms in various grade schools to teach religion. I was given the opportunity to teach religion at Cathedral Prep High School for one semester in the Spring of 1978. I enjoyed it very much! Two Rectors (principals) invited me to join the faculty of Cathedral full-time. I declined their invitation, preferring to remain in parish work. As a priest and later as a bishop, I am always a teacher, although not specifically in a classroom environment. It’s in my blood, for sure!

Tom became a religion teacher at Christ the King High School, Middle Village, immediately after graduating from Manhattan College in 1969. He was an innovative teacher who made a definite impact on the lives of his students, many of whom remember him fondly. His untimely death in 1980 cut short a career that he really loved. He even went to Webster University to obtain a master’s degree in religious studies. He was dedicated to the teaching profession! May he rest in peace!

Richie, the youngest in the family, also started teaching after graduation from St. John’s University. He taught religion and business subjects at Christ the King High School, Middle Village, Bishop Loughlin High School, Brooklyn, and St. Agnes High School, Rockville Centre. But high school teaching was not to be his lifelong career. After receiving his master’s degree also from Webster University, he would move to the college level and eventually complete his teaching (business subjects) at a golf school in Florida where he eventually moved. He enjoyed teaching adults more than high school students. He taught many students in his lifetime, not only business subjects but also lessons of life.

So, all five of us have had a chance to be in the classroom. If you total up the years, it comes to over 150 years that a Chappetto family member was passing on the gift of learning.