Mrs. Allison Ricciuti starts her 14th year of teaching as one of Cinnaminson High School’s newest math teachers. Having graduated from Ocean City High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in math and education at Rowan University, she said she is excited to continue her teaching journey in a new place.
“Before this, I taught at Haddon Heights, and I love teaching at Cinnaminson so far,” Ricciuti said.
According to Ricciuti, she said she wanted to become a teacher because of her love of math. She likes that math is not subjective, which is why she loves it so much.
“I’ve always loved math. It’s black and white; there’s not a gray area, especially with grading for it – it’s not subjective. This is the answer, and it’s not like looking at an essay in English class where there’s much more subjectivity to it,” Ricciuti said.
Teaching also runs in her family as she said both her mom and grandfather were also high school math teachers, which made her want to pursue a teaching career even more.
Currently, Ricciuti teaches three levels of Geometry. She said her favorite part of teaching is connecting with her students and seeing them overcome their struggles.
“When I can see a student bulb go on, and they’re like, ‘Wow, I understand this. I get this!” Ricciuti said.
Ricciuti advises her students to always work hard. She compares math to a sport. In the same way an athlete prepares for a game, a student also needs to practice math. By doing so, Ricciuti said she hopes to capture the students’ interest and inspire confidence.
“Just to try. I kind of make the comparison where math is almost like a sport, where you have to build your endurance,” Ricciuti said. “So, you know my advice to them was to build up your endurance for math and continue that concept in life.”
Outside of school, Ricciuti said she loves to spend time with her family and enjoys the outdoors. She spends summers down the shore in Ocean City and loves being at the beach.
“Just overall being outside in the sun. I just love spending time with my family, my husband, and my daughter,” Ricciuti said.
Besides interacting with her students in class, Ricciuti said she plans on participating in CHS activities through attending sporting events. She said she wants her students to know that she is there for them, demonstrating her true Pirate pride.
Ricciuti is excited for the upcoming school year and is determined to be a supportive and approachable teacher.
“I just want to get involved as much as possible to be a teacher that is approachable, where that means, you know, that’s about asking for help a lot of times, so they feel comfortable around me and never feel like it’s a bad thing to ask a question,” Ricciuti said.
