She’s distinguished for her “fantastique” french instruction at North Penn High School, but Mrs. Anita Sapalidis also has many not-so-known  experiences hidden “sous la surface”  such and living in two foreign countries as well as more recently, owning two restaurants.

Sapalidis grew up in Berwyn, Pennsylvania with a typical, everyday family: her mother, father, brother, and cats. She lived in a traditional household where her father went to work every day while her mother stayed at home with the children. Occupied with books and her neighborhood friends, Sapalidis enjoyed her childhood.

Once she graduated high school, Sapalidis attended West Chester University where she majored in French. After graduating from WCU, she thought, where would be a better place to use her newly gained French knowledge than in France? So she moved there to continue her French studies.

Spending two years studying abroad was enriching for Sapalidis, but the moments of loneliness and homesickness were just as prevalent as the exciting and fun times.

“It was very difficult to be away from my family,” she recalled. “Holidays were the worst. It was very hard to be alone on your birthday and Christmas and not being able to attend the funerals of your loved ones back home.”

Even though her life in France was filled with both good and bad times, Sapalidis did have one particular memory that she looks back on very fondly: meeting her husband.

They met studying together in France, and once they were married, they decided to move to Greece together. When they moved to Greece, Sapalidis discovered her passion for teaching when she got a job teaching English in a local school.

Living in different countries was adventurous and fulfilling, but after a while, Sapalidis and her husband decided to move back to the United States. Finally back in Pennsylvania where she grew up, she began teaching in the North Penn School District.

In the meantime, her husband opened up two restaurants, Valley Forge Pizza and Piazza Presto. Her husband owns both Italian pizzerias and handles the business and management of the restaurants.

Owning a restaurant may seem like the coolest idea ever, but it’s not all fun and games. “My husband isn’t around very often, he’s always at the restaurant taking care of things,” said Sapalidis. “I have to take care of everything at home as well, and at times it’s incredibly busy.”

Although owning and maintaining restaurants can be exhausting and time-consuming, there is a wonderful perk to being the owner: “Free pizza!” joked Sapalidis. “It’s great on nights when I don’t feel like cooking. I can call over and get cooked meals for free.”

While her husband maintained the restaurants, Sapalidis continued to pursue her career in teaching. She taught at Pennbrook Middle School for four years before making her debut as the North Penn High School French teacher. So far, she has dedicated herself to teaching French high school students for fourteen years, totaling her entire time in the North Penn School District at eighteen years.

“I love teaching here. I love being around the kids,” Sapalidis stated. “High school is the ideal age group for teaching; I prefer to teach older kids rather than younger kids.”

Mrs. Sapalidis’s love for teaching is reciprocated by her students who equally enjoy being in her class.

NPHS Class of 2012 graduate Laura Nester reflects on her AP French 5 class with Sapalidis: “She created an environment where it is okay to laugh at yourself and make mistakes because everyone respected the effort you put in. That’s what I liked the most, the open atmosphere.”

Olivia Farina, now a NPHS junior, was a part of Sapalidis’s French 3 Honors class her sophomore year, and looked forward to the class every day.

“I never expected French class to be that fun. I always found myself laughing at something but at the same still learning a lot of valuable information. I noticed in that class I had been more open than I had ever been in any of my previous French classes.”

Having the passion for teaching kids is the key to being a successful, amiable teacher, and Sapalidis has some words of advice for those who want to become teachers: “You have to really enjoy being around kids. Don’t be a teacher because you think it’s easy. Don’t be a teacher because you get the summer off. Be a teacher because you love being around the kids.”