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		How did Ms. Yannacone end up teaching? Why Earth Science is my FAVORITE class. Connections to American Sail Training Association and other cool places you might want to check out.

How did Ms. Yannacone end up teaching, anyway?

It all starts with my Mom, Carol Yannacone. Her infectious enthusiasm for learning about the world was obvious to me for as far back as I can remember. Just the word, “science” sounded alive and exciting when she said it, and to this day most of what I know about nature and ecology comes from her. Unfortunately financial restraints coupled with the sexism of the 50’s stopped her from attaining a degree in Biology, but nothing could stop her from reading and using her keen observations to learn more and more. I am sure that this early exposure is what led me to rediscover my love for science in college, even though I had not taken science very seriously throughout High School. It was tough, but I am very proud to have graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in Geology.

After college I went to sea. I had enrolled in an amazing college program one summer through Sea Education Association and from that I decided I wanted to go into oceanography. My plan was to work as a deckhand and gradually ease my way into a position on a research vessel… but then I found the engine room. Engine rooms are hot, noisy, dirty, greasy places that smell of diesel and bilge water. They are also interesting, logical, and elegant in design- not to mention incredibly important. The ship engine room was the first place that I felt like I really got it, and after struggling though so many classes in college that was a wonderful feeling. For the next five years I worked on tall ships as an engineer. I spent most of that time on two ships: the SV Clearwater doing environmental education on the Hudson River, and the Barque Picton Castle where I was lucky enough to sail around the world.

So where does the teaching come in? On these boats, most especially on the Picton Castle, my favorite part was meeting local kids and teaching them about the ship. It got so that it was expected that when we were anchored off some tiny island, I would come back to the ship with a boatload of curious kids. We would go aloft, check out the engine room, check out the galley… and eventually I thought to myself, “Why are you slowly going deaf by yourself in an engine room when you obviously like working with kids?” After we returned from the World Voyage in 1999 I decided to put that Geology degree to work and began taking classes for a teaching certification. I feel incredibly fortunate that I stumbled into this position at Riverhead because I absolutely love it- the kids, the courses, the community, faculty, staff… thank you!