Who is Signora Marotta? Signora Marotta is the middle school and high school Italian teacher for students in the Mayfield school district. Known for her fiery persona and outspoken attitude, Signora is well-liked around the school. She loves to help students, no matter who they are, and she goes into depth about the other things she stands for and loves.

Before her teaching era, Signora Marotta graduated from Rayne High School. Signora Marotta went on to go to college at Youngstown State University. There, she majored in teaching, graduated, and obtained her bachelor’s degree. She then went to Ashland University, where she got her Master’s degree. She has been teaching for 40 years, starting from 1977, and during that time, she has taught at two different schools. She says that she took a hiatus from middle school to teach at Case Western Reserve University for four years, then came back.

She says one thing that inspired her to teach were the ladies in her family. She explained that at an early age, all the ladies in her family were teachers, and she looked up to them.

When asked if she had a specific group of students that she favored, she replied that tries not to be biased towards anyone, being an immigrant herself. She shows understanding towards others and tries to consider things from their perspective.

At the the beginning of class everyday, Signora Marotta likes to get her class revved up for the period by going over vocabulary that her students have learned so far, and then students do a warm up, which consists of multiple things including repeating words, playing games, or completing a worksheet. After that, students work on the assigned skills to build understanding of the Italian language. At the end of each quarter, her students celebrate their progress (and Italian culture) with a food day, where they bring in treats to share with their classmates.

When asked why she loved teaching middle-school-aged adolescents over a younger age group or even high school, she said, “I love the age group, it’s more open and fun. The high-school is more closed off, but here, the students are still kids, so they want to share, and have fun.”

She also explained that she loves the Mayfield school system. “I don’t really dislike anything.” She says all the teachers here are nice and that they are great at what they do.

One thing Signora Marotta finds productive when kids have trouble learning is changing the manner she uses to teach–to change the approach.  She likes to come from a different point of view: if the kids do well orally, she’ll do more oral activities. If the kids are more comfortable with writing, she’ll can do that.

When Signora Marotta is not being a teacher, she likes to go to the beach and play volleyball. Besides that, she also loves to cook, whatever the occasion. “I love to cook, like every other Italian lady,” she added jokingly.

Personality-wise and academically, Signora Marotta will never disappoint.  She will teach the Italian language, foster an appreciation of Italian culture, and will always keep the mood bright and boisterous.