Generations of Giampapas give back

Photo obtained from Michelle Giampapa

Michelle Giampapa poses with her dad after his visit to her P.E. class.

Physical education teacher Michelle Giampapa is a friendly face known by many, but students often don’t realize the family legacy that Giampapa is part of here in the district.  Not only did Giampapa and her father, Michael, both serve as P.E. teachers here, but they are also both alumni of West Essex. The Giampapas have both given back greatly to the community that shaped them.

Michael graduated from West Essex High School in 1971. While attending school here, he participated in various sports including soccer, ice hockey, tennis and baseball. After college, he later began his career at West Essex, working here  from 1988-1991.

Later in life, Michael continued his work in the district at the Fairfield elementary schools. For 30 years, he worked there as a physical education teacher, giving students  the skills he knew would help them succeed at West Essex. From 2009 to 2012, Giampapa’s final years as a teacher, he combined both jobs, spending half his day at West Essex and the other half at Fairfield elementary schools.

“In high school, students pretty much knew the games, but elementary school was totally different because it’s very foundational,” Michael said. “You’re teaching basic movements like skipping, hopping, gliding and sliding. It’s very rewarding.”

This March, Michelle invited her dad to instruct her senior classes in pickleball. Many members of the Class of 2025 were lucky enough to have Michael as their elementary school teacher, so Michael got to see his students all grown up.

“I got to see all my kindergartners as seniors,” Michael said. “I still see them as kindergarteners. I just taught two classes, and they were like, ‘Tell us the butterfly story from kindergarten.’ They remembered it from so many years ago.”

Having played many sports during his time as a student at West Essex, Giampapa knew he wanted to become a coach. Throughout his career, he coached sports in every season, having led the  soccer, hockey, tennis and spring track teams throughout his 24 years of coaching.

This is not the only way Giampapa gave back to his community. He sent all three of his children to the same school he grew up attending. Because of this, Michael had the opportunity to coach the  ice hockey team while his son was a member and even win a state championship together. He also led the soccer team to a state championship in 2000. Giampapa felt lucky to be so immersed in his community even decades after his own graduation.

“A lot of people from this area would gravitate back to their hometown,” Michael said. “A lot of them lived in the area, but they didn’t come back to teaching until they were asked to come back, maybe because they did something here that the students would remember.”

Unlike her father, Michelle did not always know she wanted to be a physical education teacher. She started her teaching career in California as a principal before making the move back to her hometown.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a physical education teacher until around freshman year of college,” Michelle said. “I was in programs that were in kinesiology, but then I realized I loved being around kids, loved being around teaching, loved the teaching aspect and the coaching aspect.”

Seeing her father’s dedication to his job and watching his career inspired Michelle. Michelle wanted to model her own career after father’s because growing up, she always saw his professional satisfaction.

“So then I did go into what [Michael] did, because I saw how happy he was as a human as well. So I wanted to have that balance as well, with liking what I do at work,” Michelle said.

Michelle started her career in Livingston, N.J. as a physical education teacher. She saw a job opening at West Essex and didn’t hesitate to apply where she went to high school. Michael also appreciates the path she took and seeing his reflection in her career.

“I just love the fact that she’s followed in the footsteps,” said Michael.