Hello listeners! In this episode, I interviewed Joseph Claps who is the principal of Dolan Middle School in Stamford CT.

Joseph Claps is a dedicated educator and lifelong Stamford resident who is deeply committed to his community. With 22 years in Stamford Public Schools (SPS), Mr. Claps's journey in education reflects his passion for fostering growth and excellence in students. His educational path began at Roxbury Elementary School, where he spent six years as a 5th-grade teacher. Transitioning to Cloonan Middle School, he served as both a math teacher and administrator for another six years.

Mr. Claps's dedication to education continued to flourish as he spent eight years as the assistant principal at Julia A. Stark Elementary School, where he played a pivotal role in shaping school culture and student success. Currently, in his second year as the principal of Dolan Middle School, he strives to create a nurturing and inspiring learning environment for all students.

He holds a bachelor's degree from UCONN and master's degrees from Sacred Heart University and the University of Bridgeport.

Outside of education, he finds joy in family life with his wife Christina, and their three children, all of whom attend school in SPS. They share their home with their beloved dog, Penny. As an avid sports fan, Mr. Claps coaches youth baseball and football teams. He also enjoys exploring new restaurants and foods but takes delight in cooking at home too.

Thanks for listening and if you like this podcast, be sure to spread the word!

- Aarna

Note:

There was a lot of background noise and interruptions so sorry about the audio quality of this episode!

In this short bonus episode, I'll just be clearing up a little confusion regarding my podcast and explaining more about why it's so important to me, and why I'm doing it.

P.S- Sorry about some of the parts where the audio quality isn't very good!

Hello listeners! In this episode I talked with Steve Zampino who is a librarian at the Ferguson Library (Stamford, CT's public library).

Steve Zampino is a Teen and Children’s librarian who has worked at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT for 24 years. Before that he worked for more than a decade at other types of libraries. He grew up in Syracuse, New York and went to college and studied history, philosophy, and education. At the Ferguson Library, Steve is in charge of large teen collections, teen programs, the teen advisory board, the summer teen volunteer program and community outreach. 

Steve is married and has a 15 year old son. He enjoys working with kids, working at the library, playing sports and exercising. He also enjoys traveling and reading non-fiction books.

Mr. Zampino helped me understand that you don't have to have everything figured out all at once. You can take your time just like he did. You don't have to make any big decisions in a hurry. He gave some great advice and I hope that anyone listening to this will be able to use it just like me.

Thanks for listening and if you like this podcast, be sure to spread the word!

- Aarna

Hello listeners! In this episode I interviewed Christine Lesperance who is a math teacher at Dolan Middle School in Stamford, CT.

Today she talked about how being a teacher is a privilege not a burden. Being able to educate and shape young minds is a very important job to have and Ms. Lesperance is excelling at it! She loves working with kids and watching them grow not just in math, but developing their personality as well. In her spare time she loves to read and craft.

I hope you can relate to some of the challenges our guest faced on her way to becoming a teacher. I definitely learned something from her and I hope you can do the same. I had a lot of fun creating this episode, so stay tuned for the next one!

Enjoy!

- Aarna

Welcome to my podcast! I am your host Aarna Agrawal . This is the introduction to my podcast, "A Day in the Life of...". In this trailer, I'll be telling you a little bit about what this podcast is about. The first full episode will be coming shortly! Stay tuned, and if you like this podcast, spread the word!