“In eighth grade, I told my mother that I wanted to be a history teacher,” Leadership advisor Michael Amoroso said. “I wanted to coach baseball, and I did that for 17 years in my career here.”
Before joining M-A in 2000 as a coach for the JV baseball team, Amoroso went to Woodside High School, where he learned some of his most valuable lessons. “My biggest takeaway from high school was get to know other cultures. Get to know people who aren’t from the same neighborhood as you,” he said.
Compared to his time as a high school student, Amoroso noted that students today have substantially more opportunities. “We had no AP classes. We had an open campus at Woodside, so therefore fourth period we all ran to our cars and drove off campus and were late to every fifth period speech class,” Amoroso said. “We were much, much, much more respectful to our teaching staff than maybe the current day teenagers.”
After graduating high school, Amoroso attended Cañada College, where he then transferred to University of Wyoming through a baseball scholarship. He finished his education in 2000 at Chico State where he majored in history. For Amoroso, university was also another period of his life where he learned lessons about dedication and work ethic. “While any university can be a party school, one must put their nose to the grindstone and get their work done,”he said.
Today, Amoroso teaches M-A’s Leadership class, but still carries his ties to baseball with him. “I have always wanted to teach history to coach baseball at the same school that I taught,” Amoroso said. “From 2000 to 2017 I helped coach the baseball team, and I’ve always had a passion for history, and got the opportunity to teach U.S. history, or world history, from 2001 to 2015.”
Throughout his career, Amoroso has consistently valued working with students. Because the time spent in high school is short, he encourages his students to make the most of it and take risks. “Have fun because you only get four years of high school,” Amoroso said.
For Amoroso, his favorite part of the school day is being able to interact with his students. When it comes to teaching, he believes as the activities director that the students should take hold of the reins for the activities. “I always have this famous phrase that it’s not Amoroso activities, it’s student activities, so they get to do the job,” Amoroso said.
Amoroso likes to spend around 3-5 minutes at the beginning and end of class checking in with his students. Engaging his students into the class through flexibility is another important piece of his teaching. “I am very off the sleeve. There is nothing that is prompted. Mr. Amoroso is Mike Amoroso, and you get what you get,” Amoroso said.
Amoroso views getting to know your students as one of the most effective ways to make his class a fun and welcoming experience for his students. “I think getting to know my students at the beginning of the school year, get to know their likes and dislikes really gives me an advantage,” Amoroso said. “I get to know all my students, and we have a lot of fun together. I joke with them often, really get to know them and I like that part of my job.”
When it comes to Amoroso’s overall vision for education at M-A, he believes that it all comes down to the variety of opportunities offered at this high school, and taking advantage of those chances. “Please know that it’s only four years of your high school career, and your grades do not define you,” Amoroso said.
