This week’s profile is on sophomore Amanda Ianucilli from Ocean Township, New Jersey. Ianucilli is an Elementary Education and Mathematics double major at The College of New Jersey. She is actively involved and hopes to hold a leadership position on the e-board for her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. Ianucilli is the treasurer of the Council of Student Teachers of Mathematics (CSTM) and is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, which is an international Education Honor Society. Additionally, she is a member of the TCNJ cheerleading team!
Ianucilli’s hopes for the future are to teach either elementary or middle school math. Her interest in teaching was sparked early on in her life. Growing up, she often found herself playing “school” with her friends and classmates. She taught her brother, who is 3 years younger than her, how to read. When high school came along, she got the chance to teach cheerleading to fifth graders, and this was the point in Ianucilli’s early life that really “made me realize teaching was something I wanted to do,” she said.
This semester, Ianucilli’s education practicum is with a 3rd grade class in Franklin Park. The overall goal for the 8-week program is to have each student teach one formal lesson in math and science to the class. When asked about the degree of difficulty, Ianucilli said, “it’s hard in the sense of being able to differentiate the levels of learning of each student in the classroom.” However, she finds the practicum extremely rewarding. One of the student’s in Ianucilli’s classroom, who Amanda described as typically shy, came running up to her one day and told her she made her a drawing. Ianucilli has kept it in her backpack and showed the adorable illustration to me. This is just an example of one of the many rewarding aspects of the program.
Ianucilli’s interest in mathematics was something that she explained has “stuck with her” from high school – she has always been really good at math. A math interest runs in her family, as she said her father was really good at math as well; he went into college as a math major but, unlike Amanda, changed his major after his very first math class.
Next semester, Ianucilli hopes to be placed into a middle school classroom so she can continue to figure out her wants and desires for her future as a teacher.
To Amanda, congratulations on all of your accomplishments thus far on campus and beyond. Never stop reaching for the stars!