This week, we’re proud to feature Joani DiCiancia, Chemistry and Forensics Teacher at Southern Lee High School, who is in her 13th year teaching. DiCiancia brings a wealth of life experience and passion into her classroom.
“This is my 13th year, so I came to teaching a little later in life,” she shares. Before education, Mrs. DiCiancia worked for a biotech company, the Smithsonian in product development, and in real estate in the Raleigh area. When her husband’s military service brought her to Lee County, she stayed home with her children and began thinking about her next step. “I was deciding between becoming a teacher and an intellectual property lawyer … I know those are two very different things,” she laughed.
Ultimately, her passion for science, learning and family led her to the classroom. After observing a teacher for a day, she knew it was the right path. She earned her master’s degree, student taught at Southern Lee, and has been there ever since. “Student teaching was kind of my three-month long job interview.”
Her connection to Southern Lee runs deep. “It is my community … I live in Lee County. I stay because this is my community.” That sense of belonging drives her commitment to students. “I want to do what I can to make sure that our community has the best students, the most well-rounded humans going out into the world. I want to grow my community,” she explained.
Teaching, however, wasn’t exactly what she expected. “I think I expected for more kids to be ‘into learning,’” she explained. “I think I had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager or a student. I mean, I probably wasn’t really all that ‘into learning’ at that age either.”
Over time, her mindset shifted. “Teaching slowly changed for me from ‘I have to get them this content,’ to a set of skills I want them to learn. I want them to learn how to learn.” She adds, “I want to connect with them because I genuinely enjoy high school students. They’re funny. They have opinions. They’re interesting and I learn things from them every day.”
Confidence took time to build. “I would say at about eight years in … that’s where you would be really hitting that stride.” Teaching higher-level courses also helped shape her approach. “AP Chemistry really helped me teach Honors Chemistry. My knowledge of the material has filled in, even in some places that I didn’t know there were gaps. I’m so glad I did it.”
What she loves most is the connection and creativity the job allows. “I love the human interaction part of teaching … the connections you make with your students … it really is amazing.” She also enjoys sharing her passions, “ I love sharing the passions that I have for science and forensics with them.” In fact, “Forensics was literally just an interest of mine and that is why I asked the administration to let me start the class.”
Her classroom thrives on collaboration and creativity. “This job really does feed my creative soul. I get to decide how I want the students to take the information in. They can give me feedback on what they like and don’t like. That really makes it a fun, collaborative environment for teaching and learning.”
Her hopes for her students go beyond academics. “I hope that students grow as a human. I hope they learn that they CAN do it. They can learn anything with the proper framework in place.” Above all, she wants them to know, “everything I did was to make them better, stronger humans. I cared about them deeply.”