Staff Member of the Month: Elizabeth Pellicane

Elizabeth Pellicane was nominated Staff Member of the Month for September for her hard work in coordinating the student and staff photos and her dedication to her students. Asked how she felt about being nominated, she said, “It’s always nice to be recognized for what you do.”

Originally from California, Pellicane has had many years of experience in the Journalism field. She had a career in hospital public relations and marketing when living in California. Moving to New York years later, she became the Marketing and Community Relations Manager at Lenox Hill Hospital, focusing on writing, editing, and publishing, as well as event planning. She was also the Senior Editor at Career Publications Magazine in Manhattan.

After moving to Virginia, Pellicane got her teacher’s license in English and History and began teaching at FCHS.  Her first year, she taught English 9 and 10. How she began teaching Journalism, however, is quite interesting. As she finished her first year, the previous Journalism Advisor announced he was leaving to move to Egypt, and asked Pellicane to take over the class because he felt she was the most qualified teacher for the job. Since then, she has been teaching Journalism, overseeing the yearbook, the Fluco Beat, and the Literary Magazine. She also teaches a Mass Media class and a Creative Writing course. 

Although Pellicane loves teaching and seeing her students every day, her favorite aspect of education is teaching Journalism, since many of her students take successive levels of the class. “It means that I sometimes have a student nearly every semester for four years, so I get to know them really well,” she explained. She finds it fulfilling to watch students grow into successful adults. “Knowing that I’ve played even a small part in helping them get there makes teaching worthwhile,” she said. 

She also enjoys seeing former students, years after graduating, who are succeeding at life. “Last month, I had jury duty in Fluvanna, and five people on the jury pool were either former students or parents of former students. It was so wonderful being able to interact with them as adults and peers now, and to see what they have accomplished,” she said.

Pellicane and her husband, Paul, have two children, including Alex, currently a senior at Fluvanna, and Stephanie, who is a Cinematic Arts major at Liberty University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and working with her church.