English Language Arts teacher, Anne Mussatti, can be said to have hit rock bottom, but as the year has progressed, she has been swimming back up. This past school year, Anne Mussatti had a concussion which led to more problems involving her brain. The whole event happened when two students had a fight and the teacher wanted to stop the chaos.

Mussatti has been teaching for six years and is planning to continue teaching when she is fully recovered. Her love for novels and writing has lead her to her English classrooms filled with ninth graders. Not only is Mrs.Mussatti fond of English Language Arts, she also has a high opinion of the school district and where she chose to teach.

¨Ray-Pec is a great school district and I like that it is a little smaller than some of the area high schools, but not too small! There are so many opportunities for students to learn and grow at Ray-Pec,¨ said Mussatti.

Her love for her occupation, students, and books had to come to a sudden break when Mussatti was in the right mind to help but was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.

¨I tried to stop a fight between two students. I suffered a concussion as a result. The concussion led to Post-concussive Syndrome and it kept me out of school for quite a while. It was pretty hard to manage and it taught me that it is extremely important to take care of a concussion when it first happens¨ said Mussatti.

Despite Mussatti’s history, she has found ways to get involved in the school, and making sure that she gets to see her students once in awhile.

¨ I wasn’t able to do very much in the weeks I was out, but we did come see “Cash on Demand” at the South building and it was hysterically funny! I kept in touch with the other teachers about what we were doing in class, so I had a chance at knowing what was happening. Now I am in the Learning Lab and I am seeing all of the different EOC testing that happens and that has been an excellent lesson in how much testing our students have to do! I continue to meet with my grade level team each morning so I can keep up with what is happening in the classroom! ¨ said Mussatti.

Not only did Mussatti figure out ways to stay involved at the school, she learned a few things through her recent experiences and has gained a whole new perspective of her occupation.

“The past few months have really taught me that nothing is a given. One decision may impact your entire life and the lives of the people you love and care about. I think the past months have made me think about how precious life is and how much we all take for granted. I cannot say enough about how grateful I am to the people I work with for filling in for me on the days I was gone and let me know that they would take care of things. I also am deeply grateful to my husband, Jim, and my daughter, Laura, for all of the things they have done to keep our lives together,” said Mussatti.

Even though Mussatti hasn’t been in the classroom for a long period of time, her students still see her as an important figure in their first year at highschool and education of english language arts.

¨I’ve looked up to her because after she got hurt she kept trying to come back for our sake. No matter how she felt she wanted to be there for us. She’s also amazing and passionate at her job. I admire her for those things.¨ said Mussatti’s student, Celinda Hefner.

All of Mussatti’s students have looked up to her over the past year and have missed her in her absence. Even her own daughter that mussatti has as a student wouldn’t mind her back in her original classroom environment.

¨WIth my mom’s recent history, it affects me as her student because I miss her, and i’m not learning from her direct curriculum, but the long term sub has made sure to com

municate with my mother and touch bases, ¨ said Mussattis daughter and student, Laura Mussatti

With all that has happened to Anne Mussatti and her students, she still manages to inspire them and bring a smile to their faces through her recovery and absence from the classroom she hasn’t emerged from in six years till now.

¨The second she steps into the classroom to see us everyone immediately yells her name, and gets all happy. The mood in the class lights up with her presence even just for a minute,¨ said Hefner.

Every teacher is different and unique in their teaching style and overall personality. Her students have missed her solely because of how they admired her as a person and how she cared for every single one of her students.

¨Mrs. Mussatti knows how to learn and have a good time, she makes relationships with her students and designs her lessons around how they learn,¨ said Laura Mussatti.

Currently, Anne Mussatti is still recovering and plans to begin teaching again in the near future. She has been pitching in around different sections of the school whether it’s helping out in the north learning lab, attendance office, or even visiting her deeply missed student to check out books.Mussatti has inspired all her students one way or another and Hefner made sure to get her word in on how Mussatti impacted her life as a freshman student.

¨She’s different because she makes us feel loved and cared about. She’s almost like a second mom to all her students. She’s taught me to be myself, and to not worry about what others say or think. I would say that she’s not only the best teacher I’ve had, but I can honestly consider her like a friend. She really cares about all of her students and makes us feel loved. I know that I can always go and talk to her about anything no matter what, and she’ll be there for me,¨ said Hefner.