Wantagh Teachers See Shadows On Groundhog Day

WANTAGH, NY. — As Punxsutawney Phil and Malverne Mel took a look around to see if their shadows showed, Wantagh teachers saw a shadow of their own Monday: High school students, spending a few hours as their teaching apprentices in a district tradition known as “Shadow Day.”

32 students signed up for Shadow Day, stepping into the class room at Forest Lake, Mandalay and Wantagh elementary schools to help out teachers with whom they had been paired.

“It’s going to be a good experience going into college to already have a day in an
elementary school under my belt,” Wantagh senior Faith Stallone said.

Stallone participated in her first Shadow Day this year, visiting her old third-grade teacher Barbara Moeller in Moeller’s second-grade classroom. Together, the duo led a lesson on Groundhog Day, a special experience for Stallone, whose goal is to become an elementary school teacher.

For Junior Addison Gottlieb and sophomore Lillian Sottnik, it was a family affair. Gottlieb and Sottnik shadowed their moms, who teach second grade at Forest Lake. It was Gottlieb’s third Shadow Day, and she spent it helping students create a Valentine’s Day-themed bulletin board.

“I like to see how my mom is in a working environment,” Gottlieb said, “and I have
also always wanted to be a teacher.”

For Sottnik, the experience was a chance to dabble in the career, even if it’s not something she’s dead set on pursuing.

“I just want to see what teaching is like and it that’s something I would want to do,”
Sottnik said.

For business education teacher Christine Compagnino, the tradition is a valuable chance for high school students to get career experience, working a full day in a classroom to see if teaching could be for them.

“These students may dream of becoming teachers, administrators, physical
therapists or other educational professionals,” Compagnino said. “All of them walked away with a sense of what positive work ethics and professional relationships are all about by
experiencing the day at their respective elementary schools.