Janice Saggio, the first-grade teacher at Columbus St. Matthias School, laughed as she recalled memorable moments from her 49 years of teaching.
“I had a little boy one day,” she said. “He wouldn’t sit still, so I grabbed his chair and took him somewhere else to sit, and he looks at me and says, ‘Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Saggio.’
“And then I had a little girl whose shoes were always untied, and I said, ‘Maria, I can’t keep tying your shoes; my back hurts.’ And she goes, ‘Why don’t you take some Tylenol?’
“They always had a solution.”
Saggio’s years of teaching were filled with moments like these, which could be described as challenging and humorous. After nearly half a century in education, Saggio retired at the end of the 2022-23 school year.
Of her 49 years teaching, Saggio taught at St. Matthias School for 48 years. She spent her first year teaching at a public elementary school in her hometown of Dennison, Ohio. After she and her husband were married, they moved to Columbus. Saggio was hired at St. Matthias and remained there for the rest of her career.
“I’m so blessed,” she said. “Teaching in Catholic schools is more than just teaching; it is a service to God. My faith has grown because of it. It’s wonderful being part of prayers every day and liturgy and service projects.”
Saggio taught grade levels from kindergarten to eighth grade. While the majority of her years were spent teaching first-graders, she also taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade social studies and history as well as kindergarten.
“It’s my home,” she said of St. Matthias School. “The minute you walk into this building, you feel welcomed.”
Like any home, the school building has changed during Saggio’s tenure. When she began teaching at St. Matthias in the 1970s, Saggio said, there was no gymnasium, and the church building was a meeting hall. During the past 48 years, Saggio witnessed the construction of the school gym and what is now St. Matthias Church.
She has also seen generations of church pastors and principals lead the parish. There have been five pastors at St. Matthias Church and four principals during her 48 years teaching at the school.
She described the principals as “all very nurturing and respectful.” They let the teachers “do our thing, but with good guidance,” she said.
The current principal, Carey Wrigley, is a graduate of St. Matthias and was a student there during Saggio’s time teaching. Saggio taught Wrigley’s sister at St. Matthias when she was in first grade.
Several of Saggio’s former students returned to student-teach in Saggio’s classroom at St. Matthias while they studied to become educators.
Saggio also taught many of her former students’ children. She taught the children of Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School Principal Dan Garrick. She also taught DeSales Assistant Principal Jim Jones, as well as Jones’ brother, sister and each of his children.
“I’ve kind of had my paws on everybody,” she said. “I hope I’ve done something right in everyone’s lives, and they can remember good moments. I know they’re not all always good (moments), but I hope they do remember that.”
Saggio’s children and grandchildren attended St. Matthias during her time teaching there. She had her son in her homeroom class, and she taught her granddaughters.
“My oldest granddaughter, when she first came here, she called me Mrs. Saggio all the time, and then we’d get in the car and I’d take her home, and she’d say, ‘Hi, Grandma. How was your day?’ And I would laugh to myself and think, ‘Honey, you’re with me all day,’ but she separated it. I was teacher, and I was Grandma in the car.”
Saggio recalled having her son in homeroom, and the time she gave him a demerit for misbehaving. She separated herself as teacher and mother when it came to disciplining her son in the classroom.
“He came up to my desk and said, ‘Mom, Mom, what did I do?’ And I looked at him and said, ‘You’ll have to talk to that lady in the car.’
“I don’t know if he liked that or not.”
Teaching techniques have changed over the years, she said, but various teaching styles that were used in the beginning of her career have come back around.
“Things evolve,” she said. “I always tell the younger teachers, I said, ‘Just wait around. It will come back.’ Like phonics, we’ve always taught phonics, but now we’re teaching the ‘science of reading,’ and math has come back around. Now, we’re doing more math facts.
“It doesn’t change a whole lot; it’s just different techniques, and I’ve loved learning all of this – you have to stay current.
“People always say, ‘Why have you taught so long?’ And I’ll say, ‘I haven’t got it right yet. I want to keep trying.’ I love that aspect of finding out new ways.”
Saggio said much of her time teaching has included preparing for the students to receive the sacraments and preparing liturgies and prayer services for the children, which has strengthened her faith.
Teaching the Catholic faith has given it more meaning for her, she said.
Saggio talked about the Gospel each day with her students. In class, her students had a Gospel “word of the week.” Saggio would read from Sunday’s Gospel reading, and her students would act out it in class ahead of Sunday Mass.
While the majority of her time was spent with the children, Saggio said that parents played a large role in her teaching.
“It’s always a three-way street to teach a child – the teacher and the child, the teacher and the parent, and the parent and the child. You have to work together to be successful. If you get them all on board, then you have a good outcome.”
Saggio said she involved parents as much as possible in the classroom. She invited parents to come for (help with) tutoring, to be a “surprise reader” for the week and to come in the classroom and talk about their careers. Saggio also spent time in parent-teacher conferences and on phone calls to parents, and she was open to feedback.
“I always like to hear what the parent says, even if it’s a negative thing,” she said. “I always say, ‘You’re right, I could have done that better. Let’s do it this way.’ I always ask them how it could be different, if it’s not working, and they’re very helpful.”
Saggio said consistency, patience and flexibility are key to a successful classroom.
“Being a good teacher, you have to be consistent every day and have good structure and follow through on your rules, especially,” she said. “That’s what I’ve learned through the years – you make those rules at the beginning, and you practice them, and you follow through so (the students) know.
“Patience – have lots of patience – and be flexible. If you’re not flexible, you go crazy because nothing is ever the way you plan it. That’s for sure.”
Above all, Saggio said, teachers are called to love the children in their classroom.
She has seen her work bear much fruit. An example, Saggio said, is “loving the children and having them love you back; seeing them successful, even the ones who struggle.
“You have to love them – you have to really love them – even the ones that kind of test you every day, you find things that you love about them.”
Saggio said she will miss the love she receives from the children and sharing “fun” moments in class.
“I hope they remember the fun things we did because we’ve done lots of cool things. I have a puppet we take out, and we sing, and we have a little snack; we sing birthdays, … the cool science experiments we’ve done and the love, the hugs – that’s what I’ll miss the most.”
She said she will also miss her students’ bright and cheery faces.
“I’ll miss their love and their smiles. I have one little girl – every morning she comes in just cheesing all over the place, and I just love that smile.”
Saggio said she knew it was time to retire because her husband has been retired for a while. She said she “owed him some time” to spend together. Saggio said she also “just felt” that it was the right time.
“Time is short, and it just seemed like a good time,” she said of her decision to retire. “I just felt it. I don’t know why, but it just happened. I’ve been talking about it for a while, so maybe I decided I better own up to it.”
Reflecting on teaching children for nearly half a century, and the joys and challenges that came with it, Saggio said she knows “God meant me to do this.”
“It’s a rewarding profession. You have the ability to touch so many lives over the years; it’s been indescribable. There are days you ask yourself why you do it, and then you return the next day filled with heartwarming smiles and enthusiastic minds.”