Vitrano retires after 40-year career
Today, seniors at Wauwatosa East High School are looking forward to leaving East after their fourth year. Meanwhile, Latin teacher Joe Vitrano has something much bigger to look forward to: leaving East after his 40th year of teaching.
Vitrano has educated and entertained his students five days a week every school year since September 1970. In addition, he has coached and assistant-coached boys distance runners through 24 track seasons and 30 cross country seasons. On top of this, he acted as athletic director for East for 18 years, a position now held by his wife, social studies teacher Linda Vitrano.
His absence next year “is inconceivable to me,” Linda Vitrano said. The Vitranos have come to work together as a couple since 1998. “I can’t imagine not being able to just shout next door and get his advice on something,” she added.
For his own part, though he admits he will miss parts of the job, Vitrano feels ready to go.
“I won’t miss the daily grind,” he said. “Having to be responsible for young people all the time. For their learning, for them on the track, all day. It can be pretty exhausting.”
Of course, Vitrano is proud of his career at East, but at a more basic level, he says he’s just “always happy just to have a job.”
Vitrano knew he wanted to teach in high school where he was inspired by his own teachers.
“They looked like they were having fun,” he said. “They were enthusiastic about sharing what they do.”
According to his students, Vitrano has done well in following their enthusiasm. They attest to his entertaining, if tangential, rants and stories, as well as his ability to make the subject matter interesting. For example, Vitrano may illustrate a lesson on passive and active voices with help from a pair of stuffed aardvarks.
“His skill of being able to teach while entertaining is rivaled only by Mr. Walter Pyskir,” senior Latin student Nate Kolpin said, referring to the long-time Wauwatosa substitute teacher and coach.
In fact, this performance aspect is one of the things that Vitrano will miss about his profession.
“I won’t have a podium for sharing what I learn,” he said. “I won’t have my nice bully platform. But you still continue to learn.”
Kolpin, who plans on pursuing the study of the language in college, credits Vitrano for his interest.
“My passion for Latin is a direct result of Mr. Vitrano’s,” Kolpin said.
Vitrano’s athletes agreed.
“He loves what he does,” junior runner Matt Schmidt said.
Outside of the classroom, one of Vitrano’s main passions has been coaching distance runners in track and cross country.
“It sounds hokey but you learn that there really are no limits,” Vitrano said. “You can do these things, if you set your mind to something.”
Vitrano plans on continuing to coach next year. However, he did have to give up coaching to make time for his position as athletic director. He refers to this as one of his hardest periods at East, though he proved successful at the post. Over his 18 years on that job he significantly improved girls athletics at East and oversaw three conference changes.
Meanwhile, East, like the rest of the world, has seen plenty of changes since 1970. Vitrano has felt the impact of the arrival of gadgets like the Nintendo DS and iPod.
“The students’ attention spans aren’t quite the same,” Vitrano said. “They’re exposed to a lot more electronic stimulation. The kids are much more passive in the classroom, you really have to work hard to get them to respond.”
Still, this is part of the nature of education, according to Vitrano. “We stay in one place…you guys move on, so it’s a bit of a static position. But some of these students go on to do pretty cool things. And I like that… knowing that you had a part of their lives.”
Vitrano maintains that Wauwatosa has provided him “with plenty of brilliant students.” Many of these students fall into the large group of people to have been affected by Joe Vitrano’s work and people skills.
“There are people that graduated from East 30 years ago and still remember him. They still have stories, whether it was a chariot race out in the field or whatever” Linda Vitrano said. “I don’t know how to put that into words. It’s the relationship he has with people.”
Now that his teaching career is complete, Vitrano is willing to admit that it has shaped up to be a “good body of work.”
“Forty years,” Joe Vitrano shrugged. “Eh… it’s been pretty rewarding.”
Though himself mindful of hubris, the Latin teacher’s students and athletes are more than ready to acknowledge his accomplishments.
“Vitrano once said that if you’re good, you don’t need to say it. Other people will,” Kolpin said. “Vitrano is good. Re-ally, really good.”