Math classroom is the stage for Marmion teacher
Show biz. Math. Show biz. Math.
Which would Lincoln-Way East senior John Salomone pursue in college, mathematics (his first love) or musical theater?
He decided to leave it up to the colleges.
If one of the theater programs had accepted him in 2007, you might see him on a stage today instead of in a classroom at Marmion Academy.
But he is happy with the direction his life has taken.
"I treat my classroom like my stage," Salomone said. "My energy can rub off" on his audience - er, students.
Dual passions
Salomone, 28, is in his sixth year at Marmion, a Roman Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Aurora.
"I saw it (teaching) as an opportunity to still get involved with theater," he said, of why he put his math degree to use in school instead of in the business world.
He can discuss antiderivatives, chain rules and differential equations in a calculus class, then help students figure out songs and dance steps as an assistant to the school's spring musical, "The Addams Family." He is also coach of the school's math team and has helped with the choir.
And since he obtained a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of St. Francis, he was able to step in as mathematics department head when the former one became an administrator. He is now leading teachers in developing a more formalized mathematics curriculum.
And he has become a "star." In 2016, the Mathematics Teachers' Association of the Archdiocese of Chicago named him a "Rising Star." The award is given every four years.
Engaging students
He was nominated for the award by Joseph Large, Marmion's director of student academic services.
"He has a love of the subject material," Large said. Salomone has "gone out of his way" to share that passion, including organizing mathematics contests at Marmion for junior high students, as well as being math coach.
Large also admires Salomone's mastery of the subject. Salomone, he said, sees the connections between all the mathematics classes, from algebra I through Advanced Placement Calculus II.
"And he cares a lot about the students," Large said.
Large was the math department head when Salomone started. "It was very evident, even in his first year, that he was a teacher ahead of his years," he said.
For students, the fact Salomone is relatively close to them in age is a plus.
And his energy.
"The way he puts an extra level of effort in to making class fun energizes us," said senior Charlie Zimmer, a math team member and AP Calculus I student.
Salomone will drop puns in to lessons. For quizzes, he may pit rows of students against each other, with the prize being a game of trash-can basketball. He creates themed games for dreaded semester-review sessions, such as one where the answers they give determine their progress, Indiana Jones-style, to a treasure hidden in a pyramid.
He broke out in a Fall Out Boy song once when talking about the directions of polynomials, which "caught everyone by surprise," Zimmer said. (He has also run an all-school, faculty and student, fantasy football league.)
Staying in tune
Salomone, who can sing baritone and tenor, sings with the faculty chorus at Mass, and wants to perform in musicals again. Portraying Don Lockwood in "Singin' in the Rain" at University of Illinois in 2011 was a highlight of his college years, but his free time is a little more spoken for by his wife and a 14-month-old daughter. The family lives in Shorewood.
Many of the Marmion students are interested in careers that involve science, technology, engineering or mathematics. But learning mathematics benefits everyone, Salomone believes.
"For the ones who aren't thinking (of STEM), I am giving you the tools to solve a problem," he said. "Critical thinking and problem-solving."
Salomone wasn't set on teaching in a Catholic school when he graduated. He had attended public schools himself. Marmion was the first to hire him.
But he has found that teaching in a Catholic school "keeps me more in tune" with the Catholic faith he grew up in. At Marmion, students and teachers are required pray together in all classes.
Salomone enjoys it; it is one way he learns what is going on in students' lives as they bring up intentions to pray for specific concerns.
"I do not see myself going anywhere else," Salomone said.