Birth- high school: I was born November 1 in Syracuse,NY. I have 1 older brother and many cousins. I attended an excellent school for high school named Christian Brothers Academy (CBA). The school is a very well known school for athletes in Syracuse. It is a private school and my parents worked many extra jobs to be able to send me to the school. The school only allowed boys to attend,however right before I finished 6th grade they opened their doors to females. I am lucky to say that I was the first female in my family to graduate from CBA.
I loved growing up in Syracuse. I was on the school's track team, but most of my time was spent playing ice hockey for a dominant hockey club named the Syracuse Stars. We traveled around most of the Northeast in tournaments. My junior year of college I was selected to participate in a recruitment program called Hockey Night in Boston. Women athletes from around NY state came to tryout to make the NY team that would be sent to the event. I was lucky enough to be selected. I played at Hockey Night in Boston while numerous college coaches stood at the top of the arena selecting players for future teams. It was by far one of my most memorable things that ever happened to me in high school.
College: After graduating high school from Christian Brothers Academy I attended community college for 1 year. I went part-time to earn a few credits for Niagara University that I would attend in the Fall of 1998. 1998 was a huge year for Niagara because it was to begin a Women’s Hockey Program. I had the opportunity to play for that team during my time at Niagara. I absolutely loved being a Division I athlete. It taught me discipline, time management and leadership. I was able to play at big universities such as Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Minnesota, Boston College, and my favorite Dartmouth.
I actually have two most memorable moments from my college hockey career. The first was our second ever game of the season we played Boston College. I will never forget getting the puck around the left defense and skating like crazy to score my first ever collegiate goal. The second would be playing against Harvard. At the time they had most of the athletes that played on the US Olympic team. I cannot tell you the score of the game that day, but I can tell you that it was by far the coolest thing to look across the ice during the National Anthem and see 10 Olympians that I would be skating against.
I was able to graduate from Niagara University in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Upon graduating I realized that I could not do much with this type of degree. I knew from a very early age that I wanted to help people. I loved being in everyone's business and telling them how to fix their problems. My father actually had me apply to the School Counseling program for my Masters. I liked what it entailed and took on the challenge. I graduated with my Masters in 2004. I do have to mention that I did not hang up my skates while getting my degree. I actually made a AA women’s hockey team in Canada and played for 2 years with them while I earned my degree. I was the only American on the team and they made sure I knew it!
Post-College to present: After graduating I was offered a job in Georgia, New York and Louisiana. I took the job offer in Louisiana because my husband was drafted to play professional hockey there. Unfortunately his career did not work out and I quit my job, moved to Charlotte and was offered a job with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in just 1 week of being in the Queen City.
My first job as school counselor was in a high-school in Shreveport, LA. It was definitely a culture shock for me! Once coming to Charlotte, I accepted a job at E.E. Waddell High School. The school was a Title 1 school mostly Hispanic students. I absolutely loved working there. I was able to coach girls softball for a few years as well. After 4 years of working at Waddell I was offered a job at Eastover Elementary. I have been here ever since……
Eastover: I am the first counselor ever at Eastover. I have had the privilege of building a program from the bottom. I have created a program that services all students. While working at Eastover I was also able to earn my National Board Certification.
Personal note: During my time in the Queen city I had two beautiful children. I am blessed to say that PJ graduated from Eastover in 2019. He is currently a 8th grader Holy Trinity Catholic School. My daughter Josephine is a 5th grader at Eastover. I also have three fur babies, Jeter my dog and Meatball and Rigatoni are cats. I love sharing my stories with the students about all 5 members of my family. *Please note that I changed my name to Ciciarelli back in 2019-20 school year. No I did not get married. :) My email has remained the same.