Nate Frangella ’04

A first-year course gave Chicago native Nate Frangella ’04 a glimpse of elementary school teaching, and he never looked back. He had planned to become a high school history teacher, but says his early exposure to classroom teaching in Educational Psychology changed his mind.

“After my experiences in Ed. Psych. I talked a lot to the Cornell professors about the positives and negatives of teaching in the elementary grades,” he says. “It was because of the close relationships with the professors that I was able to come to the conclusion that elementary ed was the right choice for me.”

Frangella now teaches first grade just blocks from Cornell at Mount Vernon’s Washington Elementary School.

“I love the education system (in Mount Vernon),” he says. “I also am impressed with the pride the people involved with the Mount Vernon Community School District take in preparing their students for the future.”

Frangella says his teaching experience has provided too many meaningful moments to mention just one.

“My favorite part of teaching younger students is their sincerity,” he says. “I am a very sincere person so we work well together.”