Mrs. Zappia has been a teacher in the Struthers City School District for 14 years.

She has always wanted to teach students to be artistic and that it’s easy for anyone to draw or create art.

She always liked art class when she was in high school, but she also had an interest in science.

“Art obviously, but I always loved science (shout out to Mr. Cammack and Mr. Malcomson). I also really enjoyed Radio in high school,” says Zappia.

She wanted to teach in the Art department because it’s out of the ordinary, and it is less stressful for students.

Zappia wanted to teach in the Struthers District because of the sayings that the school has and because of the great opportunities that it has.

“The saying “Once a Wildcat, ALWAYS A Wildcat” does exist for a reason. This is a great place to work, with amazing opportunities and students to teach. I wanted to work in a building with teachers I had in school, working with teachers you respected and admired as a student is an awesome experience,” says the Advanced Art teacher.

Zappia thinks that when students lie to her, it is one of the more frustrating things about teaching and when her students make awful choices.

The art teacher has been wanting to be a teacher since she was younger because of her art teacher named Mr. Mistovich.

“I knew that I wanted to be a teacher in the 2nd grade. My art teacher Mr. Mistovich came to class and gave us the most exciting assignment that was so fun. I always wanted to be him, his job seemed so cool. He got to cut and glue and draw all day long. When he came into our classroom, it was always so exciting and fun. I wanted to make school exciting and fun for everyone. Learning can be fun and educational at the same time; art is a class where that happens often,” says the Art Club leader.

Mrs. Zap is her kids’ chauffeur to all of their events, and she even runs her business outside of her teaching job.