Eugenia Carlaftes, Jonathan Too
Throughout history, there have been many beloved teachers. Cardozo High School’s history department is full of many, including Mr. Morreale. Mr. Morreale’s class is always full of excitement and passion. He’s one of the three AP U.S. History teachers at Cardozo, and he holds that title with pride.
“My father was originally a history major in college,” he shared. “He wasn’t a teacher, but that’s what he did. And I also had some really good history teachers in high school, which made my passion stronger.”
Mr. Morreale has been teaching at Cardozo for 17 years. Before, he taught at a middle school in Nassau County for two years.
He expresses his favorite part about teaching, saying, “Working with the students for sure. It’s very rewarding when you see students learning and understanding the concepts you’re teaching, and when they succeed it feels good.” Many of Mr. Morreale’s students would agree that his classes are very insightful.
Throughout his career as a teacher, there are some accomplishments Mr. Morreale is most proud of. “When I teach an AP class and those students do well, that’s something you feel good about. Even when the kids volunteer to assist you, and some come back saying they appreciated the job that you did, that’s very rewarding,” he explained.
“Additionally, keeping in touch with kids and helping them out with things like references, that’s also very rewarding,” he added
It’s clear that Mr. Morreale works hard to make sure his AP students are able to pass their exams. He claims he would get rid of testing days if he could to further teach his students, “I feel like there’s so many days taken out from our year for so many things, one of which being testing,” he expressed.
Mr. Morreale is known for many things, including being a great teacher. However, he’s also known for his close bond with his friend and coworker, Mr Mitrano.
“He was a student teacher here, in the trailers. He left to teach at another school for a few years, and came back,” he said.
“We started talking and became pretty close, and there was a need for another APUSH teacher because there were 5+ classes. Mr. Georgatos and I talked about it and decided that he was the obvious choice,
he details, recalling how Mr. Mitrano’s love for history and good teaching skills made him an easy choice to pick for being an AP teacher.
“And obviously, it’s been a great choice!”
“We became closer and closer,” Mr. Morreale continued. Most students taking the AP U.S. History courses know that the two have a close bond, as they share lessons and match outfits.
“It’s kind of funny because the students point out the matching T-shirts and shorts,” he laughed. “Our families know each other; I know his kids, his wife, they’re all great. It’s more than friendship, more like we’re brothers.” The two even went on a vacation to Disney World together.
“We’re really close, and it’s nice that you can have that kind of relationship while working with somebody,” he concluded.
Through his enthusiasm for teaching and pride for his students, it’s clear that Mr. Morreale is an amazing teacher.