The Return of One of our Own

By Jessica Capriglione

Four years ago the hearts of dozens of freshmen were broken as we found out that our favorite Spanish teacher/Wildcats in Action leader was heading down to Florida to rebegin her career. Now, as seniors, imagine our surprise and excitement as we walked down the halls to see that familiar face waiting with her award-winning, comforting smile.

The day she came back, the halls were buzzing with conversation. I remember my own double take, nearly tripping into my psychology class, to find out if anybody else had seen her too. Everybody was convinced it was a new teacher, a look alike, but everybody quickly came to the conclusion that nobody could quite bring the energy to the room that Mrs. Zedalis did when she entered our lives.

Mrs. Zedalis left for Florida with nothing but the sun and a new adventure on her mind. She got to experience working in a huge school in a brand new place, and living in a city for the first time ever. While the school she worked at in Tampa was much bigger than our school, Mrs. Zedalis told me that the job itself wasn’t much different. When I wrote to her about the difference in teaching between Jersey and Florida, she responded beautifully, that teaching is “all about forming relationships with students and engaging them in the learning of a new language.” We can all agree that nobody does that better, and could describe that greater, than our own Mrs. Zedalis.

We have an outstanding Spanish department at this school, something Mrs. Zedalis also mentioned a lot. The entire department deserves the praise of a million men after everything they have gone through. Now, with Mrs. Zedalis back, it feels even more homey, and she mentioned feeling so welcomed back that it was almost as if she never left.

I am so grateful that there will once again be generations of Pinelands students who will read Los Piratas and learn about Carlos and his cabeza, Raquel and her zapatos. The halls will once again come to life with the singing of students as they pass out folders, host fashion shows as they learn their “vocabulario de ropa” for the first time, and the laughter following scenes from books they acted out as if they were plays. I am excited to walk past the classroom knowing that there are new students that get to experience yoga days and snack breaks. All of these memories that we have kept close to our hearts since the first day of freshman year.

Mrs. Zedalis’ biggest reason for coming back was to see her family. She wanted to have the chance to get to know her grandsons and be active in their growth and future lives, something very hard to do in the midst of a pandemic. We are all appreciative that out of a bad situation came one of the best outcomes, and as your old students, Mrs. Zedlais, we are so happy to see you again.

For all of the freshmen and sophomores out there, who are probably sitting in her class for the first time having no idea the kind of person Mrs. Zedalis is, I want you to take it in. This class, these memories, they are the ones you are going to keep forever. She is the teacher you will always have in your heart. At your age you may think it all unnecessary but you will never learn Spanish as well as you will with her as a teacher, and you will never learn life as well as you can from Mrs. Zedalis.