Liberty High history instructor puts in extra hours, earns top teacher honors

LDERSBURG -- Liberty High School history teacher Patricia DiLeonardi knows how she will be spending her Saturday morning.

She'll be at work proctoring a practice Advanced Placement History exam starting at 8 a.m.

She didn't have to. She wanted to. Anything to help her students ace the exam and get college credit, she said.

DiLeonardi, who frequently can be found at Liberty High after hours, was named the 2012 Carroll County Teacher of the Year during the Board of Education's employee recognition ceremony Thursday.

DiLeonardi is a National Board Certified teacher, mentors new teachers and wrote the new Issues in American Society curriculum.

In addition to teaching AP U.S. history, honors-level history and Issues and Sociology, DiLeonardi serves as Liberty's Student Government Association adviser.

She leads Homecoming preparation annually and counsels the school's primary student leaders.

When SGA President Grant Kilduff and his peers approached DiLeonardi about holding a Winter Dance this year, she agreed, even though it would require working a 12-hour shift on a Saturday.

She's not the only teacher at Liberty willing to work extra. Fellow Carroll County Teacher of the Year nominee Tony Cimino serves as the school's theater director and can frequently be found near the stage after school.

This was the first year Liberty principal Tom Clowes could recall having multiple Teacher of the Year semifinalists from his school in the same year. Just eight semifinalists are named from schools across the county.

The nominated teachers are emblematic of the support Clowes said he feels from the entire school community.

"When Liberty needs something," he said, "all I have to do is put out the word."

Liberty is lucky to have so many dedicated teachers who are willing to embrace extracurricular activities, Kilduff said.

"Our advisers are really easy to relate to," he said. "They are open. They want to talk. They want to help."

DiLeonardi is used to being around teenagers. DiLeonardi, 51, has four grown children. She put off a teaching career to be a stay-at-home mom.

She started at Liberty High School 11 years ago as a substitute teacher.

After earning her Master's Degree from Towson University in 2005, she was named a full-time teacher.

Clowes said going from a substitute to full-time instructor is a bit of an unusual path but many teachers do wind up in the profession after stints in other careers.

DiLeonardi said she always wanted to be a teacher. When her brother would play with G.I. Joe figurines, she would play teacher with her friends.

Being a mom gave her valuable life experience. She knows how teenagers operate, she said.

That's one of the reasons why she is holding the AP practice exam at 8 in the morning. She wants to get to the students before they can be distracted by something else.

"It looks like I'll have almost everybody," she said. "It's a great thing. ... They care a whole lot about what they are doing."

And they'll be instructed by a teacher who feels the same way, Kilduff said.

"She's so deserving [of Teacher of the Year]," he said. "She works so hard."