Lafayette Spotlight: Valerie DiPaola
Senora says that when she was in high school, she was an ice hockey cheerleader. They cheered on skates!
Meet Senora DiPaola! She teaches Spanish levels three and four, while also teaching AP and Cinema. She is the sponsor of three extracurricular clubs, one for each of her three dogs.
Q– What do you do/teach here?
A—This year I teach levels 3 and 4 Spanish and AP and Cinema. I am also a sponsor of D+D, Benevolence and Conservation Club, and Spanish Honor Society.
Q– Why did you come to LHS and how many years have you been here?
A— I’ve been in WJCC since 1998 where I started at Jamestown and taught Spanish there. I went into administration for a few years after that, and returned to teaching in 2020, at Lafayette.
Q– What college did you go to?
A— I graduated from McDaniel College and got my bachelor’s degree. I got one of my master’s degrees from Rutgers, and my other masters at Penn.
Q– Why did you decide to teach?
A—I was a political science prelaw major with a minor in Spanish, and I also worked in a language lab and tutored Spanish students. After doing that for a couple years and working in schools I realized I loved teaching and being around teenagers. So I dumped my major and went into teaching.
Q– What do you love about your job?
A—The kids. I love watching my freshmen and sophomores grow up and change over the years.
Q– Do you have any advice for young people today?
A— Find a profession that you really love. Follow your passion. Don’t do something you don’t like, because life is too short to do something you don’t enjoy. When you do something you love, then it really doesn’t feel like work.
Q– What other career paths have you explored or dreamed of?
A— I was planning to be a lawyer that specialized in children’s rights and children’s activism.
Q– What is your favorite thing about teaching?
A—My favorite part of my job is sharing my love of Hispanic culture.
Q– Compare your own high school to Lafayette.
A— I went to a high school with 3000 students twenty minutes outside of NYC. It was very diverse, and it was pretty impersonal. I spent half of my freshman junior years I was in Peru and the other two years my cousins from Peru would come visit me. It was kind of weird because I did a lot of work on my own.
Q– If you were stranded on a remote desert island, which three other LHS teachers who would choose to have there with you?
A—Nurse Lance because she’s a hoot and would provide great medical attention. Second, Ms. Nash, because she cooks really well. Third, Mrs. Young, just because that would prevent her from retiring.
