Interviewing Mayfair’s Teacher of the Year: Mrs. Cannizzaro

At the Winter Sports Assembly, Dr. Morgan announced Mayfair’s Teacher of the Year and that would be Mrs. Cannizzaro aka Mimi Cannizzaro. Mrs. Cannizzaro was greeted with flowers, a big banner, and her family.  If you don’t know Mrs. Cannizzaro, she teaches middle and high school math and study skills. Mrs. Cannizzaro recalls her memory of when she was announced as Teacher of the Year at the assembly. She expresses that she was completely shocked, stunned, and frozen for a minute. The moment her family took the floor during the assembly, she was even more surprised as she didn’t even expect them to come during work hours as the staff kept it a secret before the day came.

With winning the award of being Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Cannizzaro feels really good, honored, and humble about it. She expresses her respect for the Mayfair faculty and the fact that her peers think of her deserving this award. For the next 24 hours, the time felt wonderful for her and having people congratulate her around campus and text. She states, “It’s been really lovely to hear from so many people I respect.”

Mrs. Cannizzaro has been teaching for more than 30 years and at Mayfair, this is her 16th year. When I asked her about her memorable teaching experience, it was earning Teacher of the Year. Additionally, her memorable teaching experience is also when she is teaching a lesson and when the student goes like “Oh, I get it.” She finds it satisfying and gratifying when the student figures it out which is a sign of a student’s growth.

As she keeps teaching from now on, her goals are to continue as a teacher. For her students, she wants them to learn, achieve, gain confidence, and be good humans.

Ms. Sheila, her classroom aid, expresses that she was very excited and happy when Mrs. Cannizzaro earned the award. She stated that in her 27th year, I have never worked with a better teacher than Mrs. Cannizzaro. Ms. Sheila expresses that Mrs. Cannizzaro is very structured in the way where her day runs to where the students know what to expect. Ms. Sheila likes it when Mrs. Cannizzaro has a clear expectation of a student and that the student is able to follow it and succeed in her classes with support. When the students moved on to the next math level of the school year, the students visited Mrs. Cannizzaro anytime to get help in her teaching style at any math level. Ms. Sheila states, “If you’re lucky enough to have Mrs. Cannizzaro, you are going to appreciate your entire educational experience.”

One of her students, Jayleen Medrano said that she likes it when Mrs. Cannizzaro teaches math slowly at first before she eventually gets it. Jayleen also comments that Mrs. Cannizzaro also plays music in the background to help her focus along with allowing her to eat snacks to get our bodies strengthened and ready to move.

As someone who had Mrs. Cannizzaro, she is a wonderful teacher with a positive attitude. She understands what you need to do and respects it. She will support you in any way whether that would be in the classroom or even outside of school.

Her advice for the future teachers is that teaching is a wonderful job. If you don’t love it, you shouldn’t teach because teaching is also hard. Students will also know if you don’t like your job.

If you ever see Mrs. Cannizzaro around campus, be sure to congratulate her!