TOWAMENCIN – Every teacher dedicates their life to seeing their students succeed. With that passion, however, comes a time when a teacher must move forward and leave the world of education. For social studies teacher Bill Berardelli, that time has come; the popular American history instructor will be retiring at the end of the 2015-16 school year.

“I’ve been teaching here at North Penn since 1987,” reflected Berardelli. “My first 7 years here I was involved in the swimming and water polo program, which were some of my most meaningful years in the building. It was a really special time in my career here.”

Berardelli has an extensive swimming background, swimming for his high school as a teenager before moving on to the pool at West Virginia University. Given this background, getting involved with the swim team at North Penn was an easy transition.

When Berardelli received the coaching job here at North Penn, he found that it “made [his] life meaningful” because to him, “it was all about giving back”. Handling both a teaching and coaching position, however, proved to be no small feat for Berardelli, but looking back, he is grateful to have had the opportunity.

“Well, you’re a lot busier teaching and coaching,” said Berardelli when asked about adding coaching to his schedule all those years ago. “My day started at 5:20 AM and then I wasn’t getting out of here until around 7:30 at night. Inevitably, work follows you home with lesson planning and grading so my days were very long. But for the time I was lucky enough to be a part of it, it was such a great experience.”

Though he had a love for both coaching and teaching, there came a time when he had to focus on only one. Ultimately, he chose teaching and passed the position over to his well-deserving friend and current NPHS athletic director Bill Bartle.

“Bill is all around a great teacher, a great coach, a great individual, and a great person. He always seems to have success in whatever he does and it was an honor coming in to coach after him,” remarked Bartle.

Despite his departure from the pool, Berardelli was happy to focus on teaching social studies, a passion of his since a very young age. For that, he thanks his “inspiring teachers who were mentors to [him]” and brought “different lessons to life”.

Berardelli’s passion for teaching and his students is evident both during school hours and after. He displayed high enthusiasm during lessons, and he also worked tirelessly after hours to make sure the students were well equipped to learn.

“I’ve always said the mark of a good teacher is how they work when no one is watching. I think the thing that stands out about Mr. Berardelli is that he is 100% all the time,” remarked fellow social studies teacher and good friend Bob McCreary. “I have so much respect for him and his work ethic. His dedication to the craft of teaching is admirable. I don’t think there is anyone that I’ve been around that’s better at the craft of teaching than Bill Berardelli and there is a lot to be learned from watching him.”

When asked what he was going to miss the most about teaching at North Penn, Berardelli was quick to mention his interactions with students.

“I’m definitely going to miss the interaction with my students and colleagues. The joy of when a lightbulb goes on and someone understands some aspect of their culture a little bit better is amazing. I’ve enjoyed coming to work every single day and I’ve gotten a tremendous joy out of working with my students,” said Berardelli.

As for his retirement plans, Berardelli will not be disappearing from the halls of North Penn entirely.
“I will absolutely stay involved here,” he said. “I’ve always had a great appreciation for the talent in the building so I will be coming back to see that. Whether it’s in the sports department or theater department, it’s all wonderful. I know I’m the type of person that needs to do something and stay busy. If I found the perfect job or calling, it would involve some type of meaningful work and yet it would be something more laid back. I’m confident I’ll figure it out and find something that works for me.”