Legato, Maria

Department: Math
Education: Math Major at Radford University
Came to Blair in: 1989
Previous Job: Math teacher at Jane Fedamore Cooper Middle School, Mclean, VA
Hobbies: arts and crafts, cooking

Sitting upright in her office chair, she takes a small sip of her coffee. Her short brown hair frames a face with an eager smile, and her grey suit is speckled with miniscule sequins. She jokes with her fellow teachers in the Math Department and while her voice may not have the smooth flow that her name suggests, her smile certainly does.

This school year (2003-2004) is Maria Legato's fourteenth year since she came to Montgomery Blair High School from Cooper Middle School in Mclean, VA. She is the mother of both a son and a daughter and is married to a mathematician. She teaches four Algebra 2 courses and one Principles of Geometry and Algebra course.

Comparing the middle school students to her current students, she says that middle school students have less definite goals in mind than their high school counterparts. "They don't see the light at the end of the tunnel," Legato says of her former charges, going on to say that high schoolers know that they will have only one of two choices: go to college or get a job.

Yet she is still puzzled by some students' mentalities toward her teaching style. "Just the other day, I heard a student in the hall," she recalls, taking another sip from her cup, "and she was saying `[Mrs. Legato] is such an easy teacher, all you have to do is come to class, pay attention, do the work, and you pass.'" Even as she speaks, a small war between incredulity and annoyance emerges.

Still others comment about Legato on the ever popular (and controversial) RateMyTeachers.com. One anonymous poster said this of Legato: "The only thing I learned is what I taught myself from the book... she shows new problems and tells the answer, not how to get them." And yet another commented that her class was just "notes, notes, notes."

"I do too give notes!" responded Legato to a complaint earlier this month that she was not giving enough notes. In addition, she insists that she tries very hard to make her classes interactive.

However, her bigger concern is that RateMyTeachers.com is a bad source for definitive answers because anyone could write anything about anyone. Pointing to another teacher in the office, Legato asks him whether or not she could give him a bad review in somebody else's name. "Yeah, sure. And if I read you right, you already have," he jokes back.

But becoming a teacher was no joking matter, as Legato wanted to be able to enjoy her job. DC born, Virginia raised, Italian by way of her grandparents, Legato attended Yorktown High School before majoring in math while at college. After a few years there, she decided to teach. "I knew I wanted to do something related to math," she maintains. So she did, finding a profession that she could take pleasure in. "I really like to teach," she says.

In addition to teaching, Legato also enjoys arts and crafts, as well as cooking. The math department seems to heartily support her knack for tasty desserts. "They send around a list for a potluck and by the time it gets to me, [my name] is already filled in!" she says, her eyes widening slightly, appearing for all the world like another indignant student.

She faces school the same way each year, reveling once more in students' happy faces as they get excited about learning, and groaning as she faces many a teacher's worst enemy: "all the paperwork," she says, sighing.

She believes that a lot of people don't realize that teachers often have to take work home, and feels that teachers work for too long each day. Arriving at about seven in the morning and leaving at four in the afternoon, Legato has a nine hour workday even without the extra paperwork that she brings home with her.

Yet, she will not need to play the role of guide and guardian, nor secretary for much longer. She plans to retire within the next five years. Wish her a fond farewell when it happens, Blair, because she deserves it.