Mr. Tomasello's Story

Oftentimes, we use the phrase ‘following in someone's footsteps’ to describe doing something that someone else has once done before. This phrase is often looked past or brushed off because we get the general meaning so why dive any further into it? But really, for some people, following in the footsteps of someone else is more literal than we may think. Not in the sense of actually following them around, but having a person, typically someone you look up to quite a bit, and taking their path just with a slight spin of your own on it. For some people, this is everything. For some people, this was the start of their whole future. For our very own Mr. Tomasello, this is his story. 

During the school year of 1994, right here in Kenmore West, a very special artist was entering his sophomore year, Drawing and Painting class. At the time, Mrs. Veltri was the one teaching the class. She was a young teacher at the time when a 15-year-old boy took her class.  This was who we all know now as Mr. Tomasello. Mr. Tomasello had been given the assignment to create a project, to which he decided to use the horror movie Hellraiser as his inspiration. For the assignment, he had painted a large version of the character Pinhead. 

His painting was, one could say, a huge success. He received proud praise from his teacher and right then in there, the year of 1994, the photo was hung on the wall in his Drawing and Painting class. Now, fast-forward about 20 years. Mr. Tomsello was so inspired as a Ken West student, he decided to go to school for art education where he earned his degree and then started teaching. In 2016, he got his job here at Kenmore West where he was in room 205 for about 5 years. While he was teaching here at first, Mrs. Veltri was also still teaching in the very room that he had taken her class in, many years before. However, after five years of them teaching here at the same time, Mrs. Veltri retired. This left a spot open for teaching the higher-level art classes that Mrs. Veltri was teaching before. What better person to fill the shoes than Mr. Tomasello!? Along with beginning to teach these classes about 3 years ago, also came the moving into of a new room, Mrs. Veltri’s old room. Room 430, the same room he had been taught in 30 years prior. 

Upon teaching these new classes and getting his new classroom, Mr. Tomasello’s excitement was building for this new year. But, when he walked in on the first day to prepare his new room, he saw the very painting that he made three decades before, hanging on the same wall that his teacher hung it on when he was in the 10th grade. Mr. Tomasello was very excited when he saw this, it brought back the feeling of pride that he felt when he first saw it hung there, as a kid. Mr Tomasello said, “This story is very special to me and I love getting the opportunity to teach these advanced classes.” He is a well-loved teacher here at West, taking after Mrs. Veltri who came before him. If you ever want to hear more about his story, stop up to room 403 anytime and he would love to talk!

Talk about following in someone’s footsteps; Mr. Tomasello followed the road to success just like Mrs. Veltri and was able to become the teacher that he luckily had when he was in school. Ken West is very lucky to have him and he has done a great job of filling the shoes and following in the footsteps of the other great art teacher before him. Following in one’s footsteps is not just a saying, it is the pathway that determines the course of one’s life. If you admire someone enough, follow in their footsteps.  It’s not a bad thing. Take what they’ve started and make it your own. Make a footprint, just like Mr. Tomasello did.