Mr. DiStefano is Morgan’s new Digital Communications teacher. He graduated from CCSU where he majored in Technology/Engineering Education. He has now brought those skills to help show his students how to capture special moments in photography and digital Arts.
Mr.DiStefano’s 4th and 5th grade teachers were his biggest inspiration, next to his parents. Mr. Quinn was his 4th grade teacher. DiStefano said, “Going into Mr. Quinn’s class was always the best day.” Even though his fourth grade self wanted to go to school every day, he was falling behind. His fifth grade teacher, Mr. Baine was “chock-full of knowledge.” More importantly, Mr. Baine taught with energy and creativity. “I was learning something new I would never have guessed,” Mr.DiStefano said. From then on, he knew he wanted to become a teacher early on in middle school, where he could combine a teaching style focused on having fun and aimed at helping students as much as he possibly could.
On a family trip during his freshman year in high school, that was when Mr.DiStefano got into photography. During junior and senior year at East Hampton High School, he went to all the club and sports events to take pictures for the yearbook. He mentioned his favorite things to photograph were athletes. DiStefano said, “It’s stopping time for the players.” His photography allowed him to capture the competitive focus found on the athlete’s mind in an exact moment – capturing the expression and emotion of sport.
His passion for photography bloomed further during his sophomore year of college, when he started his own website focused on photograph, “Alex Di D Photos.” He developed his own brand, working for himself to get his name out in the world, covering all different types of events such as: weddings, sport events, senior pictures, etc.
DiStefano is already making his mark here at Morgan. One of the students here at Morgan, junior, A.J. Brown, is very inspired by Mr.DiStefano. A.J. was asked to take pictures of the Homecoming football game on Friday. This was A.J.’s first task for taking photos, which helped him gain more independence with the camera. He shared that he liked taking pictures for the Homecoming game because it was beneficial to not only the athletes but him too. Mr.DiStefano has showed A.J. to feel confident. A.J. said, “Mr. DiStefano is a very energetic person who shows passion in photography; he inspires me to be like that.”
Mr. DiStefano has always been focus on the next adventure. As a freshman in college, he developed his professional brand as a photographer, and before he even graduated CCSU, he already had the job here at The Morgan School.
DiStefano is happy to be a part of the Clinton community and ready to inspire students to be the best of their potential. He recommends taking his class if you have the 4 C’s, “Creative, Critical thinking, Collaboration, and Communication.”
