Silvia the Savvy Science Scholar

Meet Silvia Perri: an Italian chemistry researcher who left a life of hardworking investigation to teach at our high school here in the U.S. She received a scholarship that allowed her to choose from a list of countries, including the U.S., to conduct her research alongside another scholar. Perri chose America to start her new life.

According to her, Italy has an entirely different school system with two different forms of high school, academic and professional, and students spend five years in each. So upon her arrival in America, and at the end of her internship, she decided to explore the American education system and consider teaching.

If Perri was not a chemistry teacher, her ideal job would be a biology researcher. Apparently, when taking the test that provides credentials to teach AP Biology, Perri walked into the wrong room and found herself taking the test to teach AP Chemistry as well. After the mix-up was sorted out, she had taken and passed both tests and could teach either class. Although she had not planned to be able to teach chemistry, she realized she enjoyed the depth that chemistry provided over biology.

Despite Perri’s love for researching, an aspect of the job she didn’t enjoy was the long work hours and minimal vacation time. It didn’t allow her to spend time with her family, something that was important to her. This is another reason she decided to leave researching for teaching. She is satisfied that at least teaching gives workers an entire summer off, more or less.

In her first year as a teacher, Perri taught biology. However, when she returned the next school year, the previous chemistry teacher had quit, leaving an opening. Since Perri had already obtained the required credentials to teach chemistry, she was asked to fill in and she accepted the position with an open mind. After a year of teaching chemistry, she realized she enjoyed teaching chemistry more than biology, and wanted to go more in depth with an AP Chemistry class. However, there was already an AP Chemistry teacher at that high school, with no immediate plans of retirement. Luckily for her, she found a nearby job teaching AP Chemistry here at CVHS.

Many students love their teacher and are very grateful to be taught by her. “Dr. Perri brings her vibrant charisma and love for science and teaching to the classroom each day. She exudes positive energy that brightens each student’s day,” said junior Maya Moore.  

This is only one of Perri’s many wonderful characteristics that make her such a fantastic teacher. “I like teaching science because I want students to understand how scientific progress has benefitted the human race. I want students to share my fascination with the exploration of science,” said Perri.