Many biology and physics students at RDHS are taught by the friendly Mr. Valentino. While they may know all about an unfortunate experience he had while ice skating (or another at a bowling alley) most are unaware of his experience in the teaching field.
Mr. Valentino taught middle schoolers for many years at Teaneck and later Glen Rock.
He originally wanted to be a high school teacher, but he first sought a job in the winter when there are little to no teaching opportunities available. When an instructor at Teaneck Middle School went on maternity leave, Mr. Valentino saw the perfect opportunity to begin his career in education.
After a long time at Teaneck, Mr. V taught physics in Glen Rock for a few years. He finally arrived at RDHS last year; it’s now his second year here.
“Students [at RD] have a great balance between being studious, responsible, funny, and enthusiastic,” noted Mr. V. “You can tell that they care about learning,”
For his master’s degree, Mr. Valentino was given the “Flipped Classroom” assignment, where “Instead of giving you introductory content in the classroom, like vocab and foundational level information, you learn that at home,” Valentino explained.
For his project, he created a web show called “ILikeToScience.” In the short videos, Valentino explained introductory content in a fun way, using green screens, effects, and pop culture references.
“The idea is that you come to class, ready to do more challenging things, like a lab, maybe some practice questions, but you’re piggybacking on what you learned last night. So, everyone learns at their own speed. Before, you’re subjected to the pace of the teacher, but now, you’re free to go on your own pace,” Valentino added.
Always fun, Valentino often has students do group labs while he puts up detailed illustrations on the board and tells stories. This creativity stems from his childhood, and from the ever-popular Star Wars movie series. “I would reenact scenes with my family, read the dialogue, and pretend I was the characters. It was so much fun,” Valentino reminisced.
His family also imparted other values onto him, like patience. Growing up with an older brother, Valentino learned how to be cool, calm, and collected. This has helped him a lot throughout his career, as dealing with kids all day can be a handful.
His classes love his methods. “Mr. Valentino is a master at balancing fun and schoolwork,” said former student, sophomore, Yigit Gunhan.
“He’s my favorite teacher at the high school,” added Yigit.
“Though I struggled with physics at first, Mr. V really helped me understand it,” said, tenth grader, Dean Monaco. “He can tie anything we learn to a story that happened to him. These examples really help you learn and stay engaged.”
Outside of teaching, Valentino moonlights as a composer. He has been making instrumental tracks on and off since the early 2000s. His inspiration comes from various composers like John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer.
“I sat front row at a Danny Elfman show… that was the best concert I’ve ever been to,” Valentino said. If he had not been a teacher, he would’ve been an audio engineer or teach the tech side of recording music.
Like his students, Mr. Valentino’s colleagues have nothing but kind words to say about him. When asked about her first impression of Mr. V, 10th grade Chemistry teacher Ms. Dunn said that she immediately noticed his “positive demeanor and upbeat attitude.”
AP Science teacher Mr. Drywa shared a room with Valentino last year. “Mr. Valentino puts in tremendous effort outside of the classroom prepping activities and grading papers.”
While Ms. Warner, whose room neighbors his, exclaimed that he is a “great addition to the science department here at River Dell!”
They also noted his stylish outfits. Ms. Dunn called him a “snappy dresser.” Mr. Drywa called him, “incredibly fashionable.” Mr. Meang noted that he is “well-dressed and very formal.”
When we asked, Mr. V offered this fashion advice, “Make sure your shirt and tie match!”
Here are some of our favorite videos from “ILiketoScience”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOiD8s1vBm0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQaeiRlhFf4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NXQzXI9Ow0
