Mrs. Colangelo has been a blessing in the school and community as a whole. She started her teaching career in her mid-twenties and has taught for a total of 42 years, with 19 of those at Concord High School.
Colangelo teaches many important classes, including Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry, Plant Science, and Hydroponics. Of all these classes, she explains that she loves each equally. She says, “I love how I just get to open your eyes in different ways [in each class].”
Waylon Mandrelle, a junior at Concord, has had Mrs. Colangelo for two consecutive years. Mandrelle says, “[I am going to miss] how nice she is and how much of a grandma she can be.” His response highlights how quick Colangelo is to put others before herself, always providing her students with various snacks, water, and constant encouragement daily.
When she leaves, she says she will most miss “seeing the kids being excited to learn and playing around and doing experiments with them all.”
Anthony Evans, a 2023 graduate from Concord and current Albion College scholar, shares a quote about Colangelo: “A great teacher leaves lessons in the mind for students, but an amazing teacher leaves an impact on the hearts of their students, and Mrs. Colangelo was one of those teachers. Thank you for inspiring me to work harder, believe in myself, and keep pushing toward my goals even when times were hard. The impact Mrs. Colangelo had on my life has stayed with me long after high school. She created a classroom environment where students felt welcomed, supported, and encouraged to do their best. Her patience, kindness, and dedication never went unnoticed, and she always found ways to motivate her students to succeed not only in school but in life as well. I’ll always be grateful for the support, encouragement, and positivity she brought into the classroom every day. Mrs. Colangelo’s influence will continue to inspire me as I move further through life, and I know many students feel lucky to have had a teacher like her, just as I did. CHS will miss you!!”
Colangelo is always willing to collaborate and help others. This is significantly shown in the collaboration with our Publications class. When the class originally started doing fire photography for sports media days, Colangelo was happy to help. She was willing to explain the chemical side of things and give greatly helpful tips throughout the learning process.
Her chemistry experiments include ones that expand into the realm of forensic chemistry. Former student, Hannah Jordan, graduated from the class of 2022 at Concord High School. She is currently majoring in Forensic Chemistry at Lake Superior State University. She shares, “Mrs
Colangelo was one of my biggest supporters in high school and the one I looked to the most for help. She greatly influenced my decision in majoring in Forensic Chemistry at Lake Superior State University, and her classes set me up for so much success once I started my freshman year. I still credit her now when talking about my love for the sciences to other students and the faculty at LSSU. Even now, I miss seeing her in the halls and eating lunch in her classroom every day. Concord students are incredibly lucky to have her as a teacher, a mentor, and even a friend after their time in high school is done.”
Not only is she loved by her students, but she has also built considerable respect with her colleagues. Mrs. Fiero has
worked alongside Colangelo for seven years, she says, “she has all the answers for everything, and if she doesn’t, she knows where to find them, so she has just been a wealth of knowledge all seven years I’ve been here.” Fiero also goes on to address that a lot of who she is as a teacher has been built because of things Colangelo has told her.
Mrs. Colangelo has made a great impact on the school community as a whole and on many students throughout their careers. We will not soon forget the wonderful acts Colangelo has done to better our community. We hope that her retirement is filled with nothing but love, happiness, and comfort.
