retirements
Monday, June 8, 2015
Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 7
Mulligan encourages students to explore Jackie Gong “A good teacher is like a great candle; it consumes itself to light the way for others,” wrote sophomore Marie Chiofilo, in her good-bye to EDCO program director Edward Mulligan for The EDCO Eagle News. “Mr. Mulligan, you are our candle. You have shown all of us EDCO students the way to be successful through our years.” After nearly four decades working in the Newton Public Schools system, Mulligan will be retiring. Born in West Point, New York, Mulligan grew up in Newburgh, New York and attended Newburgh Free Academy, a high school around the same size as North, and graduated in 1970. Mulligan worked many different jobs before becoming a teacher, including positions as a newspaper deliverer, a waiter, and a custodian for a bowling alley. Originally planning on attending St. John Fishers College and becoming a speech therapist, Mulligan did not have enough money for college but accepted a scholarship to Mount Saint Mary College. At the time, the school only had three majors: nursing, liberal arts, and education. Mulligan decided on education and found that he liked it. “One day I was flipping through the graduate school catalogue and saw ‘Teacher of the Deaf’ as a job,” said Mulligan. “I had no idea what it was, but I said, ‘That’s what I want to be.’” Mulligan also earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Mount Saint Mary College, a master’s degree in deaf education at Gallaudet University, a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies by
(CAGS) at Boston State College, which is now known as UMass Boston, and a doctorate at Boston College. After moving from Washington D.C., Mulligan started working at F.A. Day Middle School, teaching students who were deaf and hard of hearing in 1976. In 1983, the ninth grade moved up from middle school to high school, and Mulligan became the director of the EDCO program at both North and Day, a position he would hold for 32 years. Mulligan describes his first year at North as an “exciting year because it felt like there were a lot of people who didn’t know what to expect.” Many teachers and students were moving up to the high school, and Mulligan was among them. Mulligan noted that a big change in all his years teaching has been technology. “It has allowed deaf students to have much more communication, and it has helped them to become much more independent.” Over the years, Mulligan has strongly believed in providing students with many different experiences. “Experience is three-quarters of the battle,” he said. “The more positive experiences we can give to students, the more they’re ready to deal with reality.” Mulligan will miss the students at North the most. “They have made me want to come in every day to teach because you know that you’re touching the future and helping them prepare for their own futures,” said Mulligan. In response to Mulligan’s retirement, the students of the EDCO program contributed to this year’s spring/summer volume of The EDCO Eagle News, which featured student
Josh Shub-Seltzer
“Dr. Mulligan has taught me to, ‘change what you can, accept what you can’t, and do the best you can,’” said EDCO teacher Joan Siskind. memories and thoughts about Mulligan. “If there is a person in my high school that I am extremely thankful to, that person is you, Dr. Mulligan,” wrote senior Eric Belozovsky. “You have done way more than any normal principal or program director.” EDCO teacher Joan Siskind will miss Mulligan as well. “I will miss his equanimity under pressure,” she said. “We might have an interpreter out or a
teacher out, and he’s the one who doesn’t get stressed about the daily occurrences of delegating positions. Dr. Mulligan has taught me to ‘change what you can, accept what you can’t, and do the best you can,’” she said. Mulligan’s best memories of his job have been hearing about the successes of his students after they leave North. “I recently learned that a former EDCO student was named superintendent of Rochester School for the
Deaf. When students come back to visit and let me know how they’re doing, it’s very special because it feels like we’ve had a little bit of a hand in helping them to achieve. “Being here at North makes you realize what a great school system is all about,” said Mulligan. “There is so much wonderful teaching that goes on everyday here, and being here just keeps raising your expectations for students and staff.” Siskind added, “When he took over EDCO, the essence of the program became Mulligan. He was the face of the EDCO program, and his boots are going to be hard to replace.” In her farewell to Mulligan in The EDCO Eagle News, senior Maryah Arzola wrote something similar. “When I think about Mr. Mulligan, I think that he is EDCO. Without him there is no EDCO,” she wrote. As for Mulligan’s plans after retirement, he plans to “see what opportunities come along. I’ve been involved in deafness for 42 years, so I’ll probably do something related to deafness,” he said. Mulligan also enjoys refinishing furniture. “I have an old barn next to my house, and maybe someday I’ll start a refinishing business,” he said. Mulligan has treasured his years in the EDCO program. “I have loved my job for so many years, I feel so fortunate to be a person who can say that, and I’ve enjoyed coming to work. It’s never been dull or boring. “I hope I’ve had a positive impact, and I hope it’s one where students have come to realize that they can do anything that they set their minds to,” he said. “I hope that [North] is a little better place for my having been here.”
David Ticchi inspires students to pursue passions
Jacob Sims Speyer Throughout his work as a faculty member over the last 40 years at this school, career and technical education outreach specialist David Ticchi has broken many boundaries and inspired others as a teacher. After overcoming hurdles which prevented blind educators from obtaining teaching positions, Ticchi leaves an inspiring legacy and lasting impact on those who have worked with him. “You don’t have to have 20/20 vision to be respected,” he said. “He has been an extraordinary role model for students and staff alike,” said Diana Robbins, who directs vocational programs for the Newton Public Schools. Born in Brockton and raised in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Ticchi attended West Bridgewater High School, where he graduated in 1963. He went on to major in economics at the College of the Holy Cross. Ticchi had his first encounter with teaching when he joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and taught Native Americans at a school in Santa Fe. “I really enjoyed it and decided to become a teacher,” he said. Upon returning to Boston, Ticchi graduated from Harvard University where he received a master’s degree and a doctorate, both in education. When he received his teaching certificate in December 1969, he became one of the first blind teachers in the state. “The challenge was to get a job. I sent out hundreds of resumes. Many interviews, all rejections,” he said. Principals had multiple concerns, accordby
Josh Shub-Seltzer
“He always approaches his interactions with students from a loving and compassionate perspective, no matter what their struggle is. He sees the best in everybody,” said carpentry teacher Garrett Tingle. ing to Ticchi, such as, “Can blind teachers run and use technical equipment? Are kids going to cheat if they have a blind teacher?” In 1971, he was hired by principal Ernest Van Seasholes to teach seventh grade English at F. A. Day Middle School. After six years, Ticchi “made a very difficult decision,” and left education to work for Kurzweil Computer Products, a subsidiary of Xerox. He worked as an International Marketing Manager selling text-to-speech devices equipment for the blind. In 1990, he “felt the urge to get back into education,” he continued. Ticchi received a position at North at the ninth
and tenth grade program, which later became the Networks and Links program. “They were for kids who may have had attendance issues and needed ways to better connect into the mainstream,” Ticchi said. When he first started at the school, Ticchi said he was “joyful. I had some apprehension about how I would be received by my colleagues, and perhaps the community. As time went on, those apprehensions went away.” Since then, Ticchi has worked for the career, vocational, and technical education department, where he is responsible for outreach to middle schools and students who attend South
but partake in vocational classes at North. At first, Ticchi did face a few difficulties. “I caught some kids cheating. We developed an honor code. ‘Do the right thing as if no one was watching and would ever know.’ That worked out well and is something I am proud of,” he said. Ticchi’s emphasis on moral values has resonated with his colleagues. Ticchi “makes a point of meeting the bus when [South students] are first dropped off,” said Robbins. “When I watch the way he interacts with students from Newton South, and they watch him, they know that he genuinely cares for them.”
Carpentry teacher Garrett Tingle said he agreed, stating that “Ticchi always approaches his interactions with students from a loving and compassionate perspective, no matter what their struggle is. He sees the best in everybody.” In addition to his position as the liaison to South students and middle schoolers, Ticchi arranges student internships with the Boston-based seafood company Legal Sea Foods, where he plays an active part in developing their code of ethics and leads a course of respect for human differences in his position reporting to the president of the company. Outside of North, Ticchi has been involved with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) at the local, state, and national levels. In 1998, he was named Blind Educator of the Year. Ticchi said, “it was the NFB who changed the visual acuity requirements for public school teaching, and by doing so, they helped pave the way for me and created an opportunity for a wonderful career.” Ticchi is thankful for being able to work at North. “The Newton Public Schools, North in particular, is wonderfully inclusive,” he said. “When a school is inclusive, the entire community benefits.” After retirement, Ticchi hopes to stay active—both with education and in the gym. Additionally, Ticchi hopes to travel and spend more time with friends and family. “You can’t help but be inspired by him,” Tingle said. “Ticchi is an example to everybody.”