By Pam Teel

On Thursday, February 19th, Ms. Angellella’s Kindergarten class, along with the other kindergarten classes, got first hand instructions on how to make a pizza from Mary Costagliola, owner of Vesuvio’s Pizza and Restaurant in Millstone Township, and her son Frank. Prior to their visit, the children were working hard on their “How-to–Do Something,” books that taught readers such things as, how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, how to wash your hands properly, how to build a snowman, how to play video games, and other How-To topics.

To celebrate the student’s writing accomplishments, the kindergarten teachers at the Primary School invited the Vesuvio team to come in and show the class how to make a pizza, with the emphasize on how important it is do things in a certain order to get the best results. The children were excited to see, step by step, how to make a pizza, especially when Frank tossed the pizza dough into air. Each student received a white baker’s hat as a souvenir, but what was even more delightful was that right after the demonstration, they all got to eat a slice of delicious Vesuvio’s pizza.

Mrs. Costagliola, affectionately known to her former students as Mrs. C, is no stranger to the Primary School. She taught in Millstone for thirty-four years. She spent twenty of those years teaching in the first grade and the last two years, before she retired, she taught the second grade. This is the second year both she and her son were invited to do the pizza presentation. Mrs. C loved the chance to go back to the school, see some old friends, meet some new ones, and interact with the students once again. “I love working with the children here in Millstone,” Mrs. C stated. “It’s extremely rewarding. Frank and I had a great time talking to them all. We have a great group of children here in Millstone. As much as you give to them, when you work with them, you get tenfold back. It’s so wonderful to see them grow and develop emotionally and academically. It’s even greater seeing them go on to become responsible young adults. Whenever I go back to the school to do the demonstration, it feels like I never left. I could tell the children learned a lot from their “How-To” unit.”

Mrs. C had nothing but high praise for the kindergarten teachers. “The teachers did a great job because when I questioned the children about the unit they were able to tell me a great deal. I could also tell they loved the pizza demonstration.”

“By inviting Mary and Frank to celebrate the end of the kindergarteners’ How-To writing unit, we wanted the children to understand that people use How-To’s in their everyday life, just like Mary and Frank use, How-To make pizza, everyday in their lives. Our goal is to help the students understand that what they learn in school is really applied in the world,” Ms. Angellella stated.