We all know Mr. Tauriello, chemistry teacher: he teaches AP Chemistry and also the Careers in Medicine class. He’s been teaching AP Chemistry for many years, and is very passionate about what he does. Mr. Tauriello seems to take pride in being a more-polarizing teacher who students have varying opinions…however, everyone agrees that he cares about what he does.
Senior Tara Gyaltsen had Mr. Tauriello for two years (for Honors Chemistry in 10th grade and AP Chemistry in 11th grade) and told The Eagle’s Cry “he is one of the most memorable teachers I’ve ever had, and he’s genuinely understanding and cares about his students.” I personally had him for AP Chemistry and Careers in Medicine, and having him teach both of those classes were the highlight of my day. Not a single day in those classes felt boring. BHS Senior Samreen Ghotra—who had Mr. Tauriello for Careers in Medicine—said “He has a strong personality, seems really intimidating but he makes everyone laugh and he’s really sweet.”
Mr. Tauriello went to St Joseph College (now St. Joseph University) in Patchogue for his undergraduate degree—a bachelor’s of science in biology. He then went to Stony Brook for his Masters of Arts. He then decided to go into teaching because he had taken some education courses prior, despite that not being his first choice. Prior to pursuing education beyond his undergrad, he said he would work in “either teaching or medicine”, so he ended up getting his certification in school leadership from Molloy College (now Molloy University). Before he officially decided his career, he worked in golf, as an assistant golf teacher. After applying to work, he got a job offer from Western Suffolk BOCES to teach chemistry. Despite his passion for teaching, he didn’t always want to be a teacher. He originally wanted to work as a lawyer or a career in medicine.
Despite coming off as sarcastic sometimes, Mr. Tauriello has close ties with the science department (more specifically in the chemistry department)—even though he claims he does “not [have] besties,” but there is respect, courtesy and friendship. He gives a shoutout to Ms. Pané, Ms. Corrado, & Ms. Flanagan—his closest colleagues that make up the chemistry department at BHS.
This year, the Careers in Medicine class revamped a significant amount, having an entire classroom dedicated to them. BHS has partnered with Northwell Health called MedVoyage, where students can visit Northwell Hospitals on-site and learn of different careers in medicine firsthand and what they entail. We are also grateful to the district for investing in the new Anatomage tables, where students can see anatomy in the human body and understand anatomy. Pertaining to this class, Mr. Tauriello said: “The goal of the class is to raise awareness to the different careers in medicine, the work ethic, and what’s required in medicine. Working in medicine comes with understanding responsibilities.”
Most significantly, Mr. Tauriello teaches AP Chemistry, which is an extremely rigorous and difficult class. Having taken it, I can say it was the most challenging-but-fun class I’ve ever taken. Mr. Tauriello explained his passion for teaching: “I want to see students do better than me, and it’s not so much the subject, but the passion for learning and curiosity. That’s more important than the subject itself. I teach science, so it’s more fun to teach.”
For future students planning to take AP Chemistry at some point in their high school career, Mr. Tauriello has some advice for you. He says: “Prepare yourself to manage your time and schedule in order to give yourself the opportunity to be successful. That means setting time to study not just for AP chemistry, but for other classes, and make legitimate efforts to work together to form study groups and help one another.”
