Mark Anthony Appiotti, the focus of this week’s #TeacherTuesday, has a favorite quote which guides his approach to teaching instrumental music.
“The kids don’t care how much you know, unless they know how much you care.” With this philosophy, the instrumental music teacher at Cold Spring, Groveland, and Kutz Elementary Schools in Central Bucks School District, shares his talents with more than 250 students each year.
As if that’s not enough, he lends his considerable gifts to the community by directing more than 60 members of the Central Bucks Community Band in their annual summer outdoor concert series, a labor of love for the past 22 years. No wonder Mark has been listed twice in Who’s Who of American Teachers.
“I often inject humor into my classroom instruction because I believe that kids learn best when joy fills the atmosphere and when they feel that they too have something to offer,” he says. “As educators, we are not here just to disperse knowledge or teach a skill, but to inspire, and to push them to achieve more than they thought was possible.”