John Madura is a flexible teacher, no matter what he does. Whether it’s working for the Navy, hacking for the government, playing guitar or teaching, he knows what he is doing. But this year, Madura takes on his newest challenge as Morgan’s data teacher in the Communications Tech Ed (CTE) department after 12 years teaching in the math department.
Madura moved departments because there was an opportunity for a teacher to move to the technology position and strengthen the data science and emerging technologies pathway in the tech department. Madura applied for this position because he thought it sounded like something he could find interest in.
“I have a very strong academic and professional training in this area, so I decided to apply in the event no acceptable candidates emerged from the search,” said Madura. The school chose to hire a new mathematics teacher and Madura was chosen after being seen as the best fit for the position. According to the U.S. Department of Education, schools have trouble finding qualified candidates to fill CTE positions 57% of the time, opposed to the other departments which only ahve a harder search 37% of the time.
Madura majored in mathematics at Boston College but focused heavily on logic and computer ability in theoretical computer science. He went back to Columbia University for his master’s in history, and said, “I thought it was quite fascinating, especially as a kid growing up in such a rich colonial area. I definitely thought I could have taught history if it wasn’t for math or technology.”
Madura moved to room A11 in the technology wing. He now works alongside communications teacher Alex DiStefano, culinary teacher Susan Murphy, engineering teacher Chad Neri, business teacher Ryan Richetelli, library media specialist Shannon Robinson, and athletic director Meagan Sears. There, Madura teaches AP computer science principles, intro to data science, and cybersecurity.
DiStefano started working at Morgan after graduating from Central Connecticut State University. “Mr. Madura is one of the most influential teachers I know, and he’s very supportive. He’s always super positive and has taught me valuable teaching skills and knowledge. I have learned to be more confident in myself as a teacher here at Morgan because of him” said DiStefano. “He was reaching out to me in summer, before school even started. I was getting phone calls and messages about what to expect with the year coming up. Two weeks before school started, Mr. Madura, Mr. Neri and I all came in and worked to get our rooms prepared because we were all new.”
Madura doesn’t stop at just new departments and rooms. Madura’s Cybersecurity course is a new class this year and is taught during the F period. The class mainly discusses how to be safe in a digital environment. There are two main areas of focus Madura covers, one being protecting yourself online and one protecting your organization in a digital space. “I love teaching the class. The more I teach it the more I realize how needed it is,” Madura said.
Sophomore Benji Brown is taking Cybersecurity this year. “Originally this class wasn’t something I had looked into, but after taking it, I learned a lot about coding and have a lot of knowledge on things I didn’t know before,” Brown said. “Mr. Madura knows a lot about what he is teaching and teaches all the topics well in order to get us to understand better.”
Maduras old department was mathematics where he was the head, working above Elizabeth Crisculo, Jessica Lynch, Stephanie Davis, Alexandra Homes, Julian Milcent, and Connor Moran, who is new to the school this year. Madura explained his change of departments as bittersweet. “I love my new department, but I miss my old department for sure. I love the opportunity to work with new teachers in a new department with new courses.”
Crisculo loved working in the same department as Madura. “He’s very laid back but also very intelligent, and he doesn’t take anything too seriously,” said Crisculo. “He always tries to make everything easier for other people. He would take classes that no one wanted to teach, and he would take extra work and put it on himself so we didn‘t have an overwhelming amount of work because that’s the kind of person he is.”
Madura will always make an impact on students at Morgan and make classes enjoyable no matter which class he is teaching.
