Mrs. Sabbatini
By Taylor Conley
We are honored to welcome the new 9th– and 6th-grade art teacher, Mrs. Sabbatini, to the Tempe Prep staff!
In her upbringing, Mrs. Sabbatini was surrounded by arts and Italian culture with the many museums near her and Bologna’s short distance from well-known Italian cities such as Venice and Florence. Mrs. Sabbatini grew up in Bologna, Italy, and attended the university there, where she majored in Art History. Bologna University, established in 1088 AD, is known as the first university ever created in Europe. After moving around from Bologna to the French Riviera to England, her family finally moved to their current residence in Tempe.
While searching for schools for her daughter, Mrs. Sabbatini came across Tempe Prep. Since then, her daughter attended TPA and graduated in 2020 and her husband, Mr. Lovelady, has taken up several positions and continues to teach here. Consequently, Mrs. Sabbatini joined the faculty just recently to teach 6th and 9th-grade art courses. For Mrs. Sabbatini, she cannot “recall a time where I was not thinking of myself as a teacher.”
Mrs. Sabbatini knew she was meant to teach at an early age when she made a new friend through tutoring someone in high school. “As soon as I found out what school was, I knew [it] was home for me.” She started her teaching career in Waldorf schools, which is a type of education that highlights creative skills and independence. For one Waldorf school she taught at, students would stay in her classroom from first grade all the way to eighth grade. Waldorf school teachers teach almost every subject to their students, which gives them the opportunity to connect different subjects.
Mrs. Sabbatini says, “Right now I actually prefer the way that I’m teaching now at Tempe Prep – just having one subject and being able to go deep in that.” She loves to delve into the subject of art and see the connections that her students make between their art and history courses. She says, “What I love about Tempe Prep is that the students are accountable and have academic ambition.” Mrs. Sabbatini also loves that TPA is a small community because everyone gets to know each other and has a sense of belonging.
In her free time, Mrs. Sabbatini likes cooking, doing art, and reading. Also, before the Covid-19 pandemic, she enjoyed watching operas at Symphony Hall with her husband. She particularly enjoys opera because she can connect with it through her fluency in Italian and fully understand the story.
Mrs. Sabbatini concludes, “I’m very excited to be teaching here at Tempe Prep. I feel a very good energy of cooperation in the school.” Unmistakably, she is a great addition to the TPA faculty!
Mr. Gelbart
By Borislava Panayotova
This past school year has been quite something. However, we have added many wonderful things to the school. That includes the new teachers that have graced us with their presence. There were many additions but one of them is Mr. Gelbart. He is the math teacher substituting for Mrs. Combs while she is on maternity leave. He teaches all of sixth grade and one seventh grade class.
Mr. Gelbart graduated with a degree in civil engineering. This is actually his first teaching job but he has been interested in teaching for a while. “I think it [teaching] is a valuable thing to help [out] . . . I want to make sure that as many kids as possible have great teachers.” While he has had the dream of being a teacher for some time, Mr. Gelbart originally worked in engineering. Not specifically as an engineer but as the person who makes financial and structural decisions.
His history with TPA is that he has lived across the street for some time. Additionally, he visited the school in 2013. Mr. Gelbart really likes the community in TPA. He says, “I really like the size, it’s just a great community. Everyone kind of knows each other; it’s really friendly . . . I just really like the sense of community you have.”
To encourage students to pick up math and engineering, Mr. Gelbart encourages kids to try out problems. He says that there “are many things that seem like they aren’t math but are.” Patterns are math and those can be found everywhere, of course. Mr. Gelbart truly wants to encourage the students to grow their knowledge and continue on the path to greatness, which makes him a perfect fit for TPA.