St. James Students Say Goodbye to Their Teacher

After a total of seven years teaching at St. James the Less Catholic School, teacher Bob Grossi said goodbye to his students.

Grossi has been a teacher in the Catholic school system for 32 years and has loved every minute of it.

“He is a compassionate man. A good role model for the school,” said student Chad Kerley who was in Grossi’s eighth grade class.

“It is a big loss for the school. He’s a great teacher,” said student Celine Gharakhanian, who added that Grossi taught her time management and organization skills she feels will be very helpful when attending Hoover High School this fall.

Grossi has served in many capacities in the Catholic school system, including principal for nine years before returning to teaching. He has seen many changes throughout his long career. The most significant has been the trend for students to do more and more adding pressure on themselves to succeed, said Grossi.

“They are going to soccer practice, ball practice, plus school functions and school work. They have so much to do,” said Grossi. He feels that teaching time management and structure is more important than ever in helping children deal with their ever-increasing schedules.

“Down deep inside what kids really need is structure,” said Grossi, who adds that in addition to guiding a child the adults should also give them an outlet to communicate Many times a teacher is in the right place at the right time when a child needs to talk, said Grossi.

“We have been friends for a long time. He is a real fun teacher,” said eighth grader Josh Aquino, who has known Grossi since third grade. Grossi always made himself available to the students, said Aquino, who added that he really felt that Grossi was a friend, not just a teacher.

Grossi has been awarded many honors and recognitions throughout his educational career including Who’s Who Among American Teachers’ Award and was nominated for the Disney American Teacher Award.

He decided to leave St. James, because he wanted to teach lower grades; however, there was not a position opening at the school. Grossi feels that if he could teach younger students time management they would be even more prepared for high school challenges.

Many students, teachers, and administrators wrote letters of goodbye at hearing of Grossi’s departure, including a former student who wrote: “Into everyone’s life comes a person who forever changes you. For me, that person was Mr. Robert Grossi.”

Grossi is honored and a bit surprised by this type of admiration. “There are times when I don’t know if I am getting through to them [his students],” he said. “Then at the end of the year when they come up to me and thank me, I’m floored. I realize they really listened.”

Students have listened and continue to listen to Grossi. Displayed In bold print at the front of his classroom is Grossi’s philosophy of a child’s character and ethics being as important as academics.

The posters read, “What is popular is not always right. What is right is not always popular.”