Eagle Eye News reporters Madalyn Paltzik and Eliza Meltzer had the opportunity to meet some of the new teachers joining the PCDS community this year. We hope this interview allows the community to get a closer look at these fascinating people we are now learning from! Enjoy!

Q: What is your favorite thing about PCDS so far?

Mr. Colavita: I really like the campus. It’s very very different than what I’m used to, so seeing the nature around is really cool.

Mr. Swingler: The students. They possess many good qualities.

Q: What is your favorite place on campus?

Mr. Colavita: The quad. Everytime I walk through there, I see someone that I’m really excited to see.

Mr. Swingler: My lab.

Q: What do you like about Arizona?

Mr. Costello: A lot. I love the weather, I love the roads, I love the structure, I love the diversity of environments. I am never leaving Arizona. Ever.

Mr. Swingler: The fact that you’ve got about every ecosystem there is…save the ocean.

Q: Who is your best friend on campus?

Mr. Costello: Mr. Swingler.

Mr. Swingler: Mr. Thommen.

Q: Do you have any funny or embarrassing teacher stories?

Mr. Colavita: Not here, but on my first day of teaching, I was trying to print out a thirty page packet. But it wasn’t formatted correctly. I think I ended up wasting two to three hundred pieces of paper before I even taught a class.

Mr. Swingler: When I used to teach here, there was an anatomy and physiology teacher who asked, “How can you tell how old a person is?” And a student answered, “That’s easy! You cut a bone in half and see how many rings there are.” Like a tree.

Q: Do you have any pets?

Mr. Costello: Yes…ish. My wife has three animals. I voted no on three animals, but technically I do have pets because they live in my house. We have one dog and two cats, and I don’t like any of them.

Mr. Swingler: I have a dog. He is a maltese-yorkie mix and he is spoiled rotten.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?

Mr. Costello: I go golfing at Peoria Pines.

Mr. Colavita: I like to go climbing.

Q: What’s the worst job you’ve ever worked?

Mr. Costello: Candle maker. It was horrible because the molten wax is steaming and it gets everywhere. The only plus side was that while I worked there, every woman in my life would always tell me that I smelled great.

Mr. Colavita: At the Gap, folding the wall of jeans.

Q: What’s your biggest fear and why?

Mr. Costello: I’m not afraid of anything.

Mr. Swingler: I don’t have a whole lot of fears left. You have to face them at some point. It used to be public speaking, but I’ve had to conquer that. 

Q: If you could teach another teacher’s class, what would it be and why?

Mr. Costello: Mr. Bistricky’s ‘Society Through The Lens Of Music’, because I love all kinds of music except for country and gangsta rap.

Mr. Colavita: Mx. Hogan’s ‘Climate Fiction’ class.

Q: Do you have a celebrity crush?

Mr. Costello: Alive or dead? I’d totally hang out with Archimedes and be that dude’s best friend.

Mr. Swingler: No! Where’d you come up with that question?

Q: What is your favorite high school memory?

Mr. Costello: I functionally have no memories of high school.

Mr. Colavita: I really don’t like public speaking, but the one time I ever did it was when a friend of mine and I were the emcees of an a cappella fest. We completely made a fool of ourselves, but it was really really fun.

Mr. Swingler: I went to four different high schools, including one in Germany. That was probably my favorite place to live.