Take a bow

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Above: Teachers Sue and Tom Pietropaolo retire from Bishop Ludden after 45 years.

Long-time Ludden educators ‘The Ps’ retire after 45 years

By Tami S. Scott, associate editor

In the spring of 1979, Sue Pietropaolo was hired as a long-term sub at Bishop Ludden Jr-Sr High School. She would stay until the teacher she was subbing for returned from maternity leave.   

 Instead, the opposite occurred.

The teacher resigned to take on her new role as mom, and Sue became the full-time permanent foreign language teacher.

Enter Tom Pietropaolo. 

As a new faculty member, Sue introduced her husband to colleagues, many of whom were coaches. Tom was already teaching phys. ed. at Assumption Catholic Academy, so it wasn’t surprising his new friends would seek his help with after-school sports. “So in 1979 I coached track, then eventually ended up coaching girls varsity soccer,” at Bishop Ludden, he said. Six years later in 1985, a position opened at the junior-senior high school for a social studies teacher — and the rest, they say, is history. 

“The Ps” would go on to serve the Ludden community as educators and mentors for another 45 years, making immeasurable impacts on countless kids over multiple generations. 

‘Sense of community’

Teaching in a private, Catholic school versus a public school has its challenges financially, and the Ps had seen many educators come and go over the years. 

“I have a lot of friends who left Catholic schools and went on to teach in public schools because of salary. I mean, they had their reasons, [but] most of them said it became a job,” Sue shared. “They still liked what they were doing but where they were working” made the difference. 

“[Teaching at Ludden] becomes a lifestyle more than a job,” added Tom. 

The couple described Ludden as enjoying a strong sense of community, even during its peak years when the school’s enrollment exceeded 1,000 students between ninth and 12th grade. 

“Even though it was a big school, it was a small school in that everybody knew each other,” Tom said. 

The Ps were fortunate, too, that Sue’s parents looked after their children, “so we didn’t have to worry about that expense,” Sue explained, adding they also didn’t have a lot of wants. These blessings enabled them to remain despite the lower salaries associated with working in a diocesan school.

The dynamic duo

The classrooms were just one piece of the couple’s contributions to the tenures of Ludden students. Both were heavily involved in extracurriculars: Tom with musicals and plays, Sue with student government, and both with annual trips abroad. 

Tom retold the story of how they pitched the theater program his way. First, there was no program — it had ended somewhere in the mid-’80s — and in 2000, the music teacher at the time, Marty Cotton, approached Tom. It began with a minor ask to play what Tom thought would be a “small, tiny part.” Nope. He played one of the main characters Harry MacAfee, the father in the musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”  

“From there, they kept having me come back and help out and finally they realized, well, I should direct it because I’m a lot cheaper than the people they were hiring to do it,” he laughed. “So it was … you learn on the job,” Tom said as a matter of fact. 

Since then, Tom has directed 80 shows, with multiple performances each year. 

“I think the best thing we ever did on stage was when we did “Godspell,” he said. “We built a theater-in-the-round in the gym. It wasn’t total 360 because you have to have a little backstage, but we built it. And it was ‘Godspell’— the Last Supper and the crucifixion scene. We had people crying. That was an amazing, amazing show that we did.”

Tom acknowledged that with Ludden, being a small school, you may not get the quintessential theater kids that a large public school might. Nonetheless, students got involved and some even got the bug. “Some of them excel, some of them, you know — it’s the experience,” he said. 

“As small as we are — even when we were big — there is that opportunity to do more than one thing,” Sue added. “We can work around schedules … You always give them a chance.”

Sue, who was always firm about making deadlines, remembered when she first took over student government. Applications had to be turned in by the due date, no excuses. One student’s recommendation didn’t come in on time so she was prepared to turn him away from running for office. The principal, then Jerry Wilcox, had a different plan. 

“Jerry said to me, ‘You know what? You’re gonna give him a chance. You’re gonna let him hand it in because you don’t know if this is the one thing that’s going to be what this kid needs,’” Sue shared. 

The outcome? 

The student won “and he was great, he did a good job,” said Sue, conceding that Jerry’s approach helped her become more sensitive and flexible toward timelines.  

Traveling together

Tom and Sue have taken numerous students on annual trips abroad for years, and together they marry their fortes of history, culture and language. 

The students get excited when they encounter something they learned in social studies, turn to Tom and exclaim, “That’s what you were talking about!” Sue said. “Or with me, we’ll go and order lunch and they get what they ordered in [that] language.”

One memory that stands out for Sue took place in 2003. 

“We went to war right before our trip,” she said, referring to the Iraq War. “Germany and France did not support us. And where were we going? Germany and France.” 

They visited Normandy, the beaches and the cemetery — an emotional experience for one senior girl, in particular, who left in tears after seeing the ages — her age — on the tombstones. “Why are we still doing this?” “Why are we still fighting?” she questioned Sue. 

Later during the same trip, the class visited a family cider farm. The dad, who spoke only French, sat down with the group. Sue translated. “Were you afraid to come?” he asked her, referring to the political climate of that time. “I said I was not [but] I did have people who chose not to [come] and he said to me, ‘Americans never have to be afraid to come to Normandy.’ Our kids needed to hear that. That they’re still loved.” 

Take a bow

When asked what they would miss most after retirement, Tom and Sue responded in unison: “The kids,” they said. “The day-to-day interaction with the kids.” 

One year not that long ago, Tom and a graduating senior had a brief heart-to-heart after the school thespians said their goodbyes and signed their names on the stage. 

“And he says, ‘You know, I know how difficult it is for me to leave. What’s it going to be like for you when you leave, you know, five or six years from now, after being here for whatever, 45 years?’” said Tom, clearly moved by the teen’s insight. “To see that growth, that he would understand that.”

The good news is they haven’t yet ridden off into the sunset. Tom continues to assist with the musicals for at least this academic year and Sue will help the new French teacher as she familiarizes herself with teaching International Baccalaureate classes. Additionally, they will accompany students to Europe for one more trip in the spring.