October 13, 2025 • 9 mins
If you’ve ever wondered how a single moment can reroute a life, Joe Pizzo’s story will stick with you. We caught up in sunny Charlotte at NCMLE, where Joe and his colleague Ken Pasic submitted six session ideas—and were shocked when all six were accepted. That win set the stage for a wide‑ranging talk about what really moves the needle for middle‑level learners: hearing great language, seeing caring adults model curiosity, and feeling safe enough to try.
Website: Spotlight 4 Success
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I'm Devin Pintozi, your host.
We are here at the NorthCarolina Mid-Level Educators
Conference in sunny Charlotte,North Carolina, with our special
guest, Joseph Pizzo.
We're going to go by Joe Pizzotuh today uh with Black River
(00:26):
Middle School in Chester, NewJersey.
Uh Joe, it's so nice to see youtoday.
SPEAKER_00 (00:30):
It's a pleasure to be here, Devin.
Thank you so much, and thank youto your engineer Lorenzo.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Oh, well, thank you.
Uh so uh so tell us a bit aboutyour journey.
How did you end up coming toNCMLE today?
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
One of our colleagues, um, Frank Rudneski
said to my colleague uh KenPasic and to me, you guys got to
go down to North Carolinabecause they have the greatest
conference anywhere.
You'll you'll thoroughly enjoyit, the people are wonderful.
And we said, okay, we'll give ita try.
So Ken and I talked, we do a lotof presentations together on
(01:05):
various things, and we try to becutting edge when we do those.
So we said, it's anotheraudience, maybe that that'll
work out for us.
And we decided that we had sixpresentations that we really
wanted to do.
And we would send those in, andmaybe we would get two of them.
(01:26):
So at least we would get to dotwo things that we want to do.
And when our acceptance cameback, the notices kept coming
back.
We got all six.
Wow.
And we were just floored.
We said, Oh my gosh.
unknown (01:37):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
So we did four yesterday, we're doing two
today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
That is awesome.
And uh so tell us a bit aboutyour uh conference theme or that
or not the conference theme,your uh breakout theme, what
you're doing in in the sessionsand how it's going.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
I did one alone and five with Ken.
The one I did alone was uhreading aloud in the middle
level because I think kids needto hear the language, and you
can do so much with that.
One of the ladies I I I wassitting with at my table before
I came to join you said, thankyou so much.
The the ideas that you gave meI'm going to use in my classroom
(02:15):
because these are things that Ilike to do, and she said they're
fun.
And the kids aren't going torealize that they're learning
poetry.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
Oh wow that's awesome.
Uh, tell us a bit about yourjourney.
Uh, you started out.
Uh, what made you decide tobecome a teacher?
SPEAKER_00 (02:33):
As I was saying to you before we went on air, it
was a strange journey, actually.
I didn't know that I wanted tobe a teacher.
That was the farthest thing frommy mind as a kid.
I wanted to replace MickeyMantle in center field for the
Yankees, but I'm not thegreatest athlete in the world.
Then I thought, okay, I canreplace Phil Razuto in the
(02:53):
booth, I can be an announcer,but I was the shy kid.
And I actually had the chance tomeet Phil Razzuto, but was too
shy to go up to him, despite mymom's prompting of go ahead, say
hi.
Just say hi, shake his hand.
I said, No, mom, I can't.
I'm just I'm I'm too nervous.
And I remember I could seemyself there in in Yankee
(03:13):
Stadium, just shying away fromthis opportunity.
But I've been able to pick up alittle bit more confidence along
the way.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Yeah, it looks like it.
I mean, here you are.
And uh tell us a bit about thatjourney.
So you decided to become ateacher.
Do you have any special momentsyou could share that you
experienced where you're like,wow, this is why I got into
teaching?
SPEAKER_00 (03:32):
When I got into teaching, I really didn't know I
wanted to do this.
Uh I had put teaching downbecause we had to declare a
major.
Okay.
And I said, well, all right,I'll I'll put teaching down.
Maybe my aunt's a teacher, maybethis is something that I'll do
someday.
And I was in a math class,freshman math class of all
places, and these two kids inthe back are discussing the
(03:57):
problems that we had the nightbefore, and they said, Yeah, the
number so-and-so, we just wecouldn't get.
I mean, it was it was it wasterrible.
And I overheard this.
Now, the shy kid would never getup and go over to see these
guys, but something pushed me.
I have no idea what.
I think it was divineintervention.
But I was pushed over to thesetwo individuals, and I said,
(04:17):
Guys, do you need some help?
And they said, Yeah, we we wecan't get this problem.
I said, Well, I solved it lastnight.
Do you want me to help you?
They said, Oh, sure, we'd lovethat.
So I explained it.
I said, Do you understand?
They said, Yeah, thank you.
Got up, shook my hand.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
I went back, sat down, and said, Hmm, I felt
pretty good.
Maybe this is something I coulddo.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
Thank you for watching.
Operating officer of Americancompany.
We are located here in ourheadquarters.
(05:27):
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
And uh, I understand, uh Joe,you're also involved in
podcasting now, is that right?
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
So tell us about that.
How did that get started andwhat are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (05:39):
I wanted to start a podcast for a while.
And I I didn't know how, and I Ijust I do a lot of different
things, and you know, you haveto make time.
So, colleague of mine got someum got a gift.
He he was at a conference and hewon a year subscription to
(05:59):
WeVideo.
And he said to the folks at WeVideo, I already have this at my
school, but I know this guywho's been in teaching for
40-some years at the time I was,now it's 51.
And he said, I think he wouldlove this.
Do you mind if I pass it along?
And the gentleman there said,Oh, sure, we would like that.
(06:21):
So I had software, I hadsomebody I could call or or text
if I needed some help with thesoftware, and I started that
way.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
Wow.
Wow, and it just goes fromthere.
Tell us about some of the guestsyou've had on, what's gone on
with the uh with the podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
I've interviewed Dr.
Debbie Silver, I've interviewedDr.
Jocelyn Chadwick.
Dr.
Jocelyn Chadwick is the formerpresident of National Council of
Teachers of English.
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
And when I met her, she's the nicest lady, as is
Debbie Silver.
Uh I found out that she's aHarvard University Graduate
School of Education professorand now special programs person.
And she has the kindest heart.
After I had lost my mom, sheknew I was taking care of my
mom, and we were close.
(07:10):
So she would reach out to meevery week.
She's in Massachusetts, I'm inNew Jersey, but she would say,
Joe, everything okay?
Joe, you doing all right?
I she sent me a link about ayear or so after that.
And she said, Here's a link foryou.
(07:30):
You might enjoy this.
And I said, Oh, okay, I'm good,good time to listen to it.
And I listened to this link, andit's BBC in London radio with
five worldwide experts on MarkTwain.
Oh she's one of those five.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
Oh, how about that?
SPEAKER_00 (07:46):
And you would never know.
The more impressive people are,the more uh accomplished they
are.
It seems that the the lesspretentious they are, and the
nicer they are.
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Oh.
That's a that's a greatobservation right there.
Um tell us a bit about uh whatyou'd like to say to the NCMLE
community uh today.
SPEAKER_00 (08:09):
NCMLE community, you guys are doing it right.
You have uh people presenting ina lot of different areas,
talking about a lot of differentthings.
Uh my colleague Ken Pasic and Iare talking about a wide variety
of topics that you have felt areimportant, the history of
education, uh the challengesthat we as educators face, the
(08:33):
culture in education, uh, whatmotivation is and is not, uh,
the need for parentalinvolvement, but we see these
things and hear these messagesthroughout everybody's
presentations.
And the folks here understandwhat educators need.
That's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (08:52):
That's wonderful.
And uh, can you tell us the uhwebsite or how how people can
find out about your podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (08:57):
If you go on YouTube, I have a YouTube
channel.
Okay, and I think the if yousearch Joe Piso channel, and
then I think the number is 2357.
Uh but when you put in Joe Pizzochannel, three of us come up.
Mine's the one with the picture,and I'm the oldest member.
So you should be able to tellwho I am just by looking at it.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Okay, Joe Piso.
Well, that's wonderful.
Thank you so much.
This is Joe Piso with the uh JoePiso podcast, as well as a
wonderful professor at BlackRiver Middle School, uh, and
also an adjunct professor, Iunderstand.
Thank you so much for being partof this program today.
SPEAKER_00 (09:38):
It's my pleasure.
Devin, you you folks are doingnice work.
May you continue on for a long,long time.
Lorenzo, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (09:45):
All right, thank you, and likewise.
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I'm Devin Pintozi, your host.
We are here at the NorthCarolina Mid-Level Educators
Conference in sunny Charlotte,North Carolina, with our special
guest, Joseph Pizzo.
We're going to go by Joe Pizzotuh today uh with Black River
(00:26):
Middle School in Chester, NewJersey.
Uh Joe, it's so nice to see youtoday.
SPEAKER_00 (00:30):
It's a pleasure to be here, Devin.
Thank you so much, and thank youto your engineer Lorenzo.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Oh, well, thank you.
Uh so uh so tell us a bit aboutyour journey.
How did you end up coming toNCMLE today?
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
One of our colleagues, um, Frank Rudneski
said to my colleague uh KenPasic and to me, you guys got to
go down to North Carolinabecause they have the greatest
conference anywhere.
You'll you'll thoroughly enjoyit, the people are wonderful.
And we said, okay, we'll give ita try.
So Ken and I talked, we do a lotof presentations together on
(01:05):
various things, and we try to becutting edge when we do those.
So we said, it's anotheraudience, maybe that that'll
work out for us.
And we decided that we had sixpresentations that we really
wanted to do.
And we would send those in, andmaybe we would get two of them.
(01:26):
So at least we would get to dotwo things that we want to do.
And when our acceptance cameback, the notices kept coming
back.
We got all six.
Wow.
And we were just floored.
We said, Oh my gosh.
unknown (01:37):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
So we did four yesterday, we're doing two
today.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
That is awesome.
And uh so tell us a bit aboutyour uh conference theme or that
or not the conference theme,your uh breakout theme, what
you're doing in in the sessionsand how it's going.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
I did one alone and five with Ken.
The one I did alone was uhreading aloud in the middle
level because I think kids needto hear the language, and you
can do so much with that.
One of the ladies I I I wassitting with at my table before
I came to join you said, thankyou so much.
The the ideas that you gave meI'm going to use in my classroom
(02:15):
because these are things that Ilike to do, and she said they're
fun.
And the kids aren't going torealize that they're learning
poetry.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
Oh wow that's awesome.
Uh, tell us a bit about yourjourney.
Uh, you started out.
Uh, what made you decide tobecome a teacher?
SPEAKER_00 (02:33):
As I was saying to you before we went on air, it
was a strange journey, actually.
I didn't know that I wanted tobe a teacher.
That was the farthest thing frommy mind as a kid.
I wanted to replace MickeyMantle in center field for the
Yankees, but I'm not thegreatest athlete in the world.
Then I thought, okay, I canreplace Phil Razuto in the
(02:53):
booth, I can be an announcer,but I was the shy kid.
And I actually had the chance tomeet Phil Razzuto, but was too
shy to go up to him, despite mymom's prompting of go ahead, say
hi.
Just say hi, shake his hand.
I said, No, mom, I can't.
I'm just I'm I'm too nervous.
And I remember I could seemyself there in in Yankee
(03:13):
Stadium, just shying away fromthis opportunity.
But I've been able to pick up alittle bit more confidence along
the way.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Yeah, it looks like it.
I mean, here you are.
And uh tell us a bit about thatjourney.
So you decided to become ateacher.
Do you have any special momentsyou could share that you
experienced where you're like,wow, this is why I got into
teaching?
SPEAKER_00 (03:32):
When I got into teaching, I really didn't know I
wanted to do this.
Uh I had put teaching downbecause we had to declare a
major.
Okay.
And I said, well, all right,I'll I'll put teaching down.
Maybe my aunt's a teacher, maybethis is something that I'll do
someday.
And I was in a math class,freshman math class of all
places, and these two kids inthe back are discussing the
(03:57):
problems that we had the nightbefore, and they said, Yeah, the
number so-and-so, we just wecouldn't get.
I mean, it was it was it wasterrible.
And I overheard this.
Now, the shy kid would never getup and go over to see these
guys, but something pushed me.
I have no idea what.
I think it was divineintervention.
But I was pushed over to thesetwo individuals, and I said,
(04:17):
Guys, do you need some help?
And they said, Yeah, we we wecan't get this problem.
I said, Well, I solved it lastnight.
Do you want me to help you?
They said, Oh, sure, we'd lovethat.
So I explained it.
I said, Do you understand?
They said, Yeah, thank you.
Got up, shook my hand.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
I went back, sat down, and said, Hmm, I felt
pretty good.
Maybe this is something I coulddo.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
Thank you for watching.
Operating officer of Americancompany.
We are located here in ourheadquarters.
(05:27):
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
And uh, I understand, uh Joe,you're also involved in
podcasting now, is that right?
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
So tell us about that.
How did that get started andwhat are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (05:39):
I wanted to start a podcast for a while.
And I I didn't know how, and I Ijust I do a lot of different
things, and you know, you haveto make time.
So, colleague of mine got someum got a gift.
He he was at a conference and hewon a year subscription to
(05:59):
WeVideo.
And he said to the folks at WeVideo, I already have this at my
school, but I know this guywho's been in teaching for
40-some years at the time I was,now it's 51.
And he said, I think he wouldlove this.
Do you mind if I pass it along?
And the gentleman there said,Oh, sure, we would like that.
(06:21):
So I had software, I hadsomebody I could call or or text
if I needed some help with thesoftware, and I started that
way.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
Wow.
Wow, and it just goes fromthere.
Tell us about some of the guestsyou've had on, what's gone on
with the uh with the podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
I've interviewed Dr.
Debbie Silver, I've interviewedDr.
Jocelyn Chadwick.
Dr.
Jocelyn Chadwick is the formerpresident of National Council of
Teachers of English.
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
And when I met her, she's the nicest lady, as is
Debbie Silver.
Uh I found out that she's aHarvard University Graduate
School of Education professorand now special programs person.
And she has the kindest heart.
After I had lost my mom, sheknew I was taking care of my
mom, and we were close.
(07:10):
So she would reach out to meevery week.
She's in Massachusetts, I'm inNew Jersey, but she would say,
Joe, everything okay?
Joe, you doing all right?
I she sent me a link about ayear or so after that.
And she said, Here's a link foryou.
(07:30):
You might enjoy this.
And I said, Oh, okay, I'm good,good time to listen to it.
And I listened to this link, andit's BBC in London radio with
five worldwide experts on MarkTwain.
Oh she's one of those five.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
Oh, how about that?
SPEAKER_00 (07:46):
And you would never know.
The more impressive people are,the more uh accomplished they
are.
It seems that the the lesspretentious they are, and the
nicer they are.
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Oh.
That's a that's a greatobservation right there.
Um tell us a bit about uh whatyou'd like to say to the NCMLE
community uh today.
SPEAKER_00 (08:09):
NCMLE community, you guys are doing it right.
You have uh people presenting ina lot of different areas,
talking about a lot of differentthings.
Uh my colleague Ken Pasic and Iare talking about a wide variety
of topics that you have felt areimportant, the history of
education, uh the challengesthat we as educators face, the
(08:33):
culture in education, uh, whatmotivation is and is not, uh,
the need for parentalinvolvement, but we see these
things and hear these messagesthroughout everybody's
presentations.
And the folks here understandwhat educators need.
That's the key.
SPEAKER_01 (08:52):
That's wonderful.
And uh, can you tell us the uhwebsite or how how people can
find out about your podcast?
SPEAKER_00 (08:57):
If you go on YouTube, I have a YouTube
channel.
Okay, and I think the if yousearch Joe Piso channel, and
then I think the number is 2357.
Uh but when you put in Joe Pizzochannel, three of us come up.
Mine's the one with the picture,and I'm the oldest member.
So you should be able to tellwho I am just by looking at it.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Okay, Joe Piso.
Well, that's wonderful.
Thank you so much.
This is Joe Piso with the uh JoePiso podcast, as well as a
wonderful professor at BlackRiver Middle School, uh, and
also an adjunct professor, Iunderstand.
Thank you so much for being partof this program today.
SPEAKER_00 (09:38):
It's my pleasure.
Devin, you you folks are doingnice work.
May you continue on for a long,long time.
Lorenzo, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (09:45):
All right, thank you, and likewise.
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