Maria Cavallini has been teaching at WJ for 10 years. Cavallini teaches Italian 1, 3, 4, 5 and AP courses in addition to teaching Spanish 2. She is also the sponsor of the Italian honor society.
What are your interests outside of school?
MC: I love to [go] hiking, I love advanced hiking. I also used to be an avid horsewoman, but no longer have the time and I also love to go biking. I am also part of a book club, and so it forces me to finish books. And I love to dance.
What kinds of dance do you participate in?
MC: Well actually, anything with a good beat. [In] my days, it was just good rock and roll, but I like hip-hop; I like a lot of hip-hop. That’s also because my kids are into hip-hop, but I do enjoy it.
What are some of your favorite television shows or movies?
MC: I’m not much into [television]. I don’t really have very many favorite [television] programs, actually. I watch very little [television], but I do like historical movies, and so if there’s a good historical movie out there, I do like to go to the movies.
What are some of your interesting or unique hobbies?
MC: I have been writing with the committee [working to] adapt the new AP [Italian] curriculum to our classes, because Walter Johnson is the only school in Montgomery County that is actually offering AP Italian as a class. So I’ve had to adapt the curriculum to our students, or shall I say, create the materials and so it has been a very busy but very satisfactory year. I have six girls, six students, who will be our pioneers in this program, taking the first Italian AP [at] Walter Johnson.
Can you describe your typical Saturday?
MC: I still get up early, and depending on what time of the year it is, if it’s summer time I love to putter in my garden. I have a green thumb. I usually run a lot of errands, which can’t be run during the week. But I try to enjoy myself. I try to, once again, do some hiking, or biking or something like that. If it’s cold outside, then I tend to do more indoor things, maybe more reading.
What are some things you would like to accomplish in your lifetime?
MC: Well, one of the things is to see the Italian AP program established in this area. We’ve worked so hard, and it’s not just me. It’s the Italian Embassy and so many hard working teachers and people working to get this established in this area. Also, I would love to study another foreign language. I love languages. I would love to learn perhaps, French. And I’d like to spend more time in the future in my home in Umbria, in Italy. I have a lovely apartment in the historic center of Umbria, and I’d love to spend more time there.
