Aha! The Moment Of Truth!

Peter Casalegno is retiring from his teaching job at Olive Peirce Middle School to take a job with a defense contractor.

Former Military Aviator Leaves His Mark as Teacher

by Jim Evans

After serving more than 28 years as a military aviator in the U.S. Navy — many of those years teaching young servicemen and women — Peter Casalegno decided that he wanted to teach middle-school students after he retired from the military.

Now, after seven years of teaching at Olive Peirce Middle School in Ramona, Casalegno is retiring again — this time, to work for a defense contractor in systems engineering where he hopes his military background can help protect our nation’s future.

"I’m going to miss teaching," Casalegno said. "Working with these kids has been a wonderful experience. It’s the greatest feeling in the world when you hear them say ‘aha!’

"When that happens, you know the light just went on for them, and they have experienced a breakthrough to finally understand something that we have been discussing. It makes it all worthwhile."

Casalegno teaches math and science, but he admits it involves more than just two subjects.

"Actually, I teach algebra, algebra II, geometry and science, and the science includes chemistry, physics and biology," he said. "If I taught at the high school level, I would be limited to teaching just one of the sciences, but middle school allows me to integrate all three of the sciences into my classes, which give me more latitude in working with students to make it more fun and interesting."

He has enjoyed watching his students participate in the annual Science Olympiad over the years, where they can put their science skills to good use by experimenting with different concepts.

"It’s remarkable to see how much their confidence grows as they create different experiments and learn how things work in the world of science," he said. " It’s really ‘cool.’ "

Casalegno grew up in San Francisco and graduated with multiple degrees from Old Dominion and the University of San Francisco before joining the service. At least one of the proverbial acorns didn’t fall very far from the tree, because his daughter is now a math teacher in Atlanta. His two sons took a different direction in their careers, so she will soon be the only teacher in the family, as Casalegno heads in a different direction for his future.

"But I’m going to really miss those ‘aha’s,’ " Casalegno said. Even to the end, the teacher in him just won’t let go.