After 25 years of diligent teaching, a retirement is amongst us in the history department. Joseph Licavoli, an AP US History Teacher, AP US Government & Politics, US History I, and Economics teacher is retiring this year. Mr. Licavoli started his journey as a graduate of Kent State University with an undergraduate degree of History and Political Science. Mr. Licavoli wanted to further his education, and next made his way into Ohio State’s Law School. After being a public defender for a number of years, Mr. Licavoli earned a Master’s Degree in Education and began to teach students. He followed his wife to New Jersey, where she had a job for a newspaper. Teaching middle schoolers was not Mr. Licavoli’s favorite age group to teach, so when the CWC-BOE offered him a job teaching high schoolers, Mr. Licavoli took the opportunity.
Mr. Licavoli is known for his sarcasm, elite humor, and love for jazz music. Of course, you can’t forget his birkenstocks with khaki pants and a button down shirt everyday. At JCHS, Mr. Licavoli spent most of his periods teaching students the basic curriculum of the class, but also gave everyone the opportunity to have a deeper analysis of topics. He questioned his students personally, as a Professor would in Law School. He is one of the elite teachers who truly makes you critically think, which is a valuable asset to a student’s learning.
When asked about what Mr. Licavoli would miss the most about teaching at JCHS, his response was, “I’ll miss a good answer from a student. I’ll miss making them think” The students most often referred to as “knuckleheads” will certainly miss his ways of teaching and educating.
As his iconic reading of newspapers at the Pep Rallies suggests, Mr. Licavoli plans to continue to be an avid student of history in retirement, reading newspapers every single day. On his drives home to Jersey City, he will also miss sending Remind Texts of NPR audio sessions to his students. Mr. Licavoli looks forward to a period of relaxation, with intent to spend a lot of his time at his local Golf Club. Something Mr. Licavoli unquestionably won’t miss is his student-induced migraines from a long work day. However, Mr. Licavoli does also plan to come back and visit. More specifically, he would come back to have a nice lunch with Ms. Luberto and Ms. Schecter.
Overall, Mr. Licavoli wants to leave his students with one important message: “Think, and do not trust.” Although vague, many of his students already sense what that means. Above all, Licavoli urges us to use our critical thinking capacities. CWC-BOE will definitely miss Mr. Licavoli, and on behalf of the entire community, we thank him for all the tireless work that he has put in over the years. Most importantly, Mr. Licavoli’s students will miss him the most. On behalf of the Class of 2021, we thank Mr. Licavoli for teaching us life lessons in Room 508.
