One thing students may not realize about FCHS Journalism Adviser Elizabeth Pellicane is that she has had a varied, “renaissance” career.
Known as “Mrs. P” to many of her students, Pellicane has taught at FCHS since 2007. In addition to teaching Journalism, Creative Writing, and Social/Media & You, she supervises the Yearbook, the the Fluco Beat (the FCHS student news website), and the FCHS Literary Magazine. She says that while teaching, she draws daily from what she learned in her previous career in public relations, marketing, and magazine editing.
Pellicane grew up in Southern California and went to Stanford University, where she specialized in British literature and history. “My mom is from England, and I went there every year to visit growing up, so I love anything to do with England,” Pellicane said when talking about why she chose her field of study. “When I was little I was convinced I was named about Queen Elizabeth II, so I was really disappointed when my parents told me I wasn’t,” she added.
When she wasn’t working hard to get top grades at Stanford, Pellicane loved running, traveling, and taking part in the local Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Years later, Pellicane still plays an active role in her church, the Point Church in Charlottesville.
The mother of two now-adult children, both of whom graduated from FCHS, Pellicane said she made the switch from marketing to teacher in large part because of her children. “When I decided to go back to work, I wanted a career where I could be on the same schedule as my kids and spend as much time with them as possible. Teaching is the perfect career for that. The fact that I found that I love teaching was an added bonus,” she said.
Being able to teaching students creativity, writing skills, and the benefits of preparing for a career are some of the things that make her love her job. Pellicane enjoys being able to not only teach and see her students develop as writers, but also as people. “I also love the fact that students can take my Journalism class year after year. I can get to know students in class all four years and really see them mature and grow into amazing adults,” she said.
One highlight of her time at Stanford was studying abroad at Oxford University in England, one of the most prestigious schools in the world. This only increased her passion for seeing the world, which began when she made her first trip to England at six months old to meet her grandparents. Since then, she has worked in a handful of foreign countries including Kenya and Sourh Korea, and has visited 44 countries so far. She has her sights set on traveling to Iceland next.
Aside from traveling, Pellicane has many different interests. She enjoys reading novels, exercising, helping out with her church, and watching British TV shows. Some of her favorite books include the Mark of the Lion trilogy, Animal Farm, Unbroken, and dystopian series like the Hunger Games and Divergent.
Pellicane also cites Jane Austen (author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion among others) as a brilliant writer and social commentator. “The way she was able to capture human nature that has struck a cord with people worldwide for over 200 years, all without traveling more than a few miles from her village, is an amazing feat,” Pellicane said.
Pellicane encourages students who are interested in working on the Yearbook , the Fluco Beat, or the Literary Magazine, or considering a potential writing career, to stop by Room 4501.
