Susan_Kilkuskie_Lucrezi

=Susie (Kilkuskie) Lucrezi= by highlighting the words, then click on File to find a picture on your computer || put a favorite recent picture here by highlighting the words, then click on File to find a picture on your computer ||
 * 1971 || 2011 ||
 * put your senior picture here

Post High School Education and/or Professional Certification:
Texas Tech: BA in Spanish Lehigh University: Masters of Education/Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate Universidad del Turabo: Masters of Education w/ Teaching English as a Second Language Reading Recovery Teacher National Writing Project Teaching Consultant

Family:
if you would like || add photos here if you would like || add photos here if you would like ||
 * Married to / in love with: Fred Lucrezi
 * Children: Anthony, 19, majoring in Music Recording Technology at Lebanon Valley College
 * Grandchildren: None (no rush!)
 * Others: My parents have both passed away. Sisters: Mary lives outside of Washington, DC..She has two sons and 5 grandchildren. Virginia (Nana) lives in Albuquerque with her cat Bandit. Carole and husband Jan live outside of Washington, DC. They have 8 kids between them and plenty of lively grandkids. Cathy and husband Terry live in Amarillo and their son Terry is an accountant in Amarillo.
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Where have you lived since high school? Okay, I'll follow Becky and Lavonna's lead: I started as an Elementary Education major at Texas Tech, but after taking Spanish classes, I changed my Major to Spanish and Minor to Latin American Area Studies. (My father's comment after I announced that decision: "Good luck getting a job.") After graduating, I found a job with my Spanish degree in San Antonio. I worked at a travel agency booking bus tours to Mexico and worked on the weekend greeting visitors at the Alamo. The travel agency job was one huge yawn. I decided I would go back to school to get a teaching degree, but first I wanted to spend the winter in Aspen. Then, a friend at my apartment complex asked me if I wanted to go on a month-long camping trip to California with him in the fall. Fred had a field job with his environmental company testing jet engines at the Air Force base and wanted to go to California before he drove back home to Pennsylvania.Did he say "California"? That was a no-brainer for me. I was in! We did, and he dropped me off in Aspen a month later. I found a job as a maid at a lodge. He got back to Pennsylvania and was offered another field job in Farmington, New Mexico. He took the job and drove to Aspen almost every weekend. It was a great place for a courtship! Spring came, and his job in Farmington was over, and so was mine in Aspen (loved my Aspen experience, but one winter was enough for me in that fantasy world for the rich and richer). We spent the summer in Alameda, California (thanks to Fred's job), and then I moved with him to Pennsylvania. Lehigh University in Bethlehem offered just what I needed: a Masters of Education teacher certification program. I was a full-time student at Lehigh for a year and earned my teacher certificate. Much to my surprise I discovered that Bethlehem has quite a large community of Spanish speakers. Years ago, many Puerto Rican workers came to Bethlehem to work for Bethlehem Steel. I landed a job in Bethlehem's South Side at Donegan Elementary. I taught at Donegan from 1977-2007. I am quite proud of my 30 years there. Donegan's students are mostly low-income Hispanic students and there is a lot of transiency. It was a highly rewarding place to teach. For many years we had a very tight-knit staff, and many of my dearest friends are from Donegan. But, everything changes, and even though it looked like I might begin and end my career in the same school, I decided to transfer in 2007. I taught at an alternative school until 2010 when we tearfully said goodbye to our beloved school due to budget cuts. I now teach half-time and work as an ESOL evaluator half-time. It's really a great way to finish my career (no definite date for retirement yet). Our ESOL office is great, and I am still in touch with students in my .5 teaching position. And that's the story of my career! Fred and I were married in 1977, and in 1992 we adopted Anthony. Anthony has rounded out our family just perfectly. Fred and I became volleyball fanatics in the early 80s and I started playing tennis again in the late 80s and then Anthony came into our life, and we settled down somewhat. Anthony is studying music, and we had a great time being 'Bando' parents when he was in high school. Our two cats keep us company now that Anthony is away at college. Bethlehem is a great place to live. The winters are too long for me (this one was the worst), but they're bearable, I suppose. We are just 1 hr. 20 min. from New York City, and we love going to Broadway shows. We're only 2 1/2 hours from the New Jersey beaches (which are very nice, by the way!) Of course, it's not Phillips, but bloom where you are planted!

Best career move? I took a travel sabbatical in 1992 and a study sabbatical in 1999. I am the unofficial "Sabbatical Queen" of our district! I would do it again in a heartbeat. Those sabbaticals certainly renewed my teaching energy.

Most embarrassing moment in high school? I was the 'patient' in Homemaking when we had the Home Nursing lessons. I was in my pajamas in the hospital bed. There was a bed tray with soup and a drink. Miss Dynes was demonstrating how to put a napkin around my neck. She hit a ticklish spot on my neck, I jerked my knee up, and the soup and drink went all over everything. Miss Dynes was beside herself! I had promised earlier to loan my pajamas to the person (I can't remember who it was) who was to be the patient in the next class. I didn't get a chance to tell that person what happened. I just remember she told me later that when she asked Miss Dynes about the pajamas, Miss Dynes replied in her most indignant tone, "They are in the dryer. In all these years, nothing like that has Ever happened to me."

Most embarrassing moment since high school? Okay, it's not exactly my most embarrassing moment, but it is cute. I am an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher and an ESOL evaluator for our district (new students and other testing needs). This year I went to one of our elementary schools to test a new first-grade Puerto Rican student. We were walking in from the playground, she was holding my hand, and she looked up at me and said, "You're pretty". I said thank you and I was thinking, "That's refreshing to hear. After teaching middle school students these last few years, I don't hear things like that any more." Shortly after beginning the testing, the student said, "I am cross-eyed and blind. I can't see." I did a quick check and asked her to read the wall clock. She was right. Her vision was far from perfect!

Best memory of living in Phillips and Phillips High School? SInce my sisters and I went to St. John's through 8th grade, during those years we pretty much stuck with each other. We had lots of fun on our own and with our dog Pepi and cat One-eye (and Easter chicks and ducks). I loved having the canyon in our front yard. Balancing on the rope at the pool was the best. I have never been to any other pool that allows playing on the rope (it was really a cable, wasn't it?). I liked taking the bus to the Morley from the park in the summer. HIgh school? We had many memorable teachers, didn't we? Mr. George is probably at the top for me. But, there were many others who I remember fondly. Among them are: Mrs. Moulton, Mrs. Vassar, Coach Moore (Of Mice and Men), and of course Harold Hollywood Hawthorne. Playing on the tennis team was a great experience, (and thanks to those years, I have been playing on my USTA team, "Beth Force" for over 20 years), and I had a lot of fun being in Hi Phi. (My Pennsylvania friends have never heard of high school sororities.) Most memorable: Who can ever forget the Dalhart game? It was the best! All in all, a great experience being a Blackhawk!