(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - You hear applause going on in the background.

That's not for me.

That's for Nick Ferroni, who's a history teacher, nationally recognized social activist.

You were with us before a few years back?

- Yes.

- And you have done nothing but, did better things.

That was an awkwardly worded sentence.

You've been kicking butt and doing great things as a teacher of history, the area you focus on an awful lot has to do with social justice, racial justice.

Talk about that.

- Well, again, we talked about our Italian backgrounds growing up and what- - Oh, are you Italian?

I didn't realize.

- Yeah.

(both chuckling) And it's just, I've always been very fortunate to be, to have opportunities and privilege and amazing teachers in my life.

So I can't think of anything better than to use my platform as an educator to not only support students, but to utilize that platform to advocate for other people.

Again, anyone who's being marginalized or just not fully represented.

- Yeah.

Well, let's go into this a little bit more.

While there are a whole range of areas, Nick, that you focus on as an educator, the rights of the LGBTQ community, a very significant area for you.

Talk about not only what it is, but why it is.

- It's interesting because I'm not a part of that community, but my students are, my family is.

- Same here.

- Yeah.

And so I feel it's our obligation to be outside the community, to be allies for that community and having students, it's tough enough to be a teenager.

And then I can't imagine being a teenager and not being able to be your authentic self or be able to express yourself or be able to let people know your true self.

Because you're afraid how society, your family, your colleagues, your teachers, your classmates are gonna see it.

And it's just, it's still insane to me that we live in a world where people have to come out.

And I have so many students who struggle with a lot of things and it breaks my heart that that's one of them when it shouldn't be.

It shouldn't be brave to be you.

You shouldn't have to be brave to be a kid.

- Yeah, I think, so I'm curious about this.

So your work, your teaching, your passion for teaching.

The first time I met you that really, really hit me, and I'm sure I asked you this then, but I want to ask you again.

Where does the passion come from for teaching?

- I had amazing history teachers.

I mean, I had old Vietnam War veterans who made me love history.

And Indiana Jones was definitely an inspiration as well.

I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

But passionate people make you passionate.

And I grew up with my Italian grandfather telling me about World War I, telling me about the importance of history, telling me about the destruction of war.

And I just remember his stories were so moving and like as a history teacher, stories are so much more powerful than information.

So I try to use storytelling as a way to engage students.

- Go back again, as an educator in my own way as a coach around public speaking.

I'll often talk about storytelling as a powerful tool versus PowerPoint with numbers and graphs and charts and stats, which are relevant.

But stories resonate.

Why?

- Because they're relatable.

It's so tough to get my students and us to connect with someone unless they share something that we can relate to.

And I think stories are so much more personal and talking about the American Revolution's great, but when we talk about Captain Baron von Steuben from Prussia who came here because he was kicked out of Prussia for being homosexual.

He came here, Washington made him the second most powerful in command.

The book that he wrote is still used in the army today.

Every town has a Steubenville.

He became like a national hero, yet he ended up here because of homophobia in different countries.

So, which I also think is ironic because the military always has a history of being homophobic with don't ask, don't tell.

But it was founded by a gay man.

And that story may seem insignificant to us, but to an LGBTQ student, or even to people who love America, who may be ignorant in certain areas, that would be like, all right.

So we wouldn't have our country without the LGBTQ community to a certain extent.

So those are the stories I think, resonate.

- You know, the other story we had, we just interviewed Karen Parsons.

- [Nick] Yeah.

- Who wrote a powerful story about an inventor.

Garrett- - Morgan.

- Garrett Morgan.

- Yes.

Who referred to himself as the Black Edison.

But when I was talking to Karen, I realized that she's a great storyteller.

Also was on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" back in the day.

She subbed in your class.

- Yes.

- Talk about that.

- Well, I do a thing called Celebrity Substitute where I let celebrities sub for a day in our school.

And they tell everyone- - Where do you teach?

- Union High School.

- Union, New Jersey.

- My alma mater.

So 21 years as a teacher, four years as a student, more than half my life has been in that building, Steve.

- That's awesome.

- Which is exciting, awesome and depressing at the same time.

- (laughs) Not, no.

- My mom sends care packages to school.

- Ah, that's great.

By the way, I was, I don't even know if I was supposed to say this or not.

Can we get it outta the way?

Yeah.

Let me get it out of the way.

- My mom still talks about it.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- You're not gonna say it because like me, you're very humble, which is a joke.

I'm not.

The sexiest teacher alive.

What year?

- Well, 2014.

But then it was re-amped a few times.

I don't think I've been replaced yet.

- Hold on, so now you have to let us know that you, like I won an Emmy Award.

I have to say how many I won.

- Yes.

- So you won it many times.

But it's relevant because it gave you a platform.

- It gave me a platform and also exposed me to what it's like to be objectified.

And I figure that's what it's like to be a woman where you constantly have to prove yourself.

So it was definitely very eye-opening in that sense 'cause now I have to prove myself that I'm a good teacher because the minute you hear that title, it kind of takes away from my credibility or my work ethic.

- You know, so many guys out there would be watching right now.

And I'd be lying to say that I weren't one of them.

If they said, "Well, you're the sexiest broadcaster, "you're the sexiest."

"Oh, that's great."

You're saying there's a double-edged sword.

- Absolutely.

Because now they're putting your appearance ahead of your skill.

And it's like, and that was ironic 'cause I always said that's what it kind of was like.

And I said it on press, what it's like to feel, be a woman when you could cure cancer.

- Women deal with it all the time.

I'm sorry, I stepped on that.

Say that.

- I'm sorry.

You could cure cancer, but if you're a pretty woman, like, but you're so pretty.

Or you could go to Harvard, but you're so pretty.

And it's like, that was a taste.

I mean, luckily it was only a taste.

I didn't have to endure that my whole life.

But it definitely, again, perspective is a very interesting thing.

- Where the heck does your empathy come from?

Not just the ability to relate to others and try to understand their experience dramatically different from yours.

But the wanting to be empathetic.

- I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood in Union.

My best friends were African American.

I always thought that they had the same experience as me going through that town.

I didn't realize that they experienced things that I didn't have to experience.

Prejudice, discrimination, things like that.

I just, I've always, I'm a person for the underdog.

I always like to see people succeed.

I always like to see people get opportunity and it infuriates me that we live in a society where certain people are trying to limit what other people can do when they just wanna live their lives.

I don't, I just want everyone to have that opportunity.

As an educator, I think public education's the ultimate equalizer.

I think it teaches empathy.

My students are amazing.

They're exposed to everybody.

And I feel like exposure and education kind of get rid of so many problems that exist right now in the world.

- You know, we're here at the New Jersey Education Association Convention, my colleague Jacqui Tricarico and I have been coming down here for years interviewing great educators and guest speakers, all kinds of folks.

But one of the themes that I wanna touch on with you, that we've talked about in the past is teacher burnout.

I'm curious as to first of all, what you think is causing it, second, why you apparently are not, at least from my perspective, not experiencing it.

- Well, I mean, I'm experiencing it.

I'm in my 21st year as a teacher doing my dream job.

- Probably a bit long to say.

- Yeah, I've thought about leaving plenty of times for other opportunities.

And it says so much that you have people who always wanted to be teachers considering leaving their dream jobs.

I didn't know a lot of things before becoming a teacher.

I didn't know when I saw my history teacher painting houses during the summer that he was doing it because he had to.

I didn't know when I was- - To make money.

- To make money.

I didn't know when I was using supplies, my teacher bought them.

And it infuriates me because I work with so many people who give their hearts, souls and knowledge.

Again, you see it here, to their students.

And yet as a society, we don't support it.

Public school is the ultimate investment and you cannot, you cannot claim to care about children and not support, pay and resource the people who spend the most time with the largest number of children.

- What do you think that's about, Nick?

- I think gender plays into it.

70% of teachers are female.

We see teaching as a hobby, as a male, you have to become an administrator if you wanna make any money, which- - In education.

- In education.

And it shouldn't be that way.

You know, teaching, if everyone says how important educators are to America, yet we pay them as if it's a side hustle.

If you have to work other jobs, you can't call it a career if you have to work other jobs to continue doing your career.

And we don't wanna be rich.

We just, even though we had worked for free, Steve, we don't wanna have like we should have.

- But hold on.

But Nick, you said you've thought about leaving, but you haven't and you're all in now.

Why?

- I love it.

The kids bring us back.

If a teacher leaves, they're not leaving a job.

They're leaving something that brings them so much joy because they've been forced to.

And for the longest time, a lot of teachers have endured a lot of the hardships that come with being a teacher, because we do it for the kids.

And that's very toxic because people use that against us.

But it's for the kids.

So you work a second job, you buy your own supplies because it's for the kids not trying to get a society to support us and invest in the community, which public schools are the center of every community and they bring everyone together.

- Last question.

I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again.

The New Jersey Education Association is an underwriter of our programming and big supporters of public broadcasting.

For you, this convention, what's it like?

- It's inspiring because educators are some of the most inspirational people in the world.

And all I meet are amazing teachers who have amazing stories, who are sacrificing for their students, who want to improve for their students.

They're here trying to become better teachers to get supplies, to get freebies because they don't wanna have to buy their own supplies.

This is what people need to see, not the other false information that people are throwing out to demonize educators.

And it breaks my heart that we're demonizing a profession who invests so much.

And I'm a good teacher, Steve.

I'm not the best teacher in my school.

I'm definitely not the best teacher here.

So I try to use my platform to make sure everyone knows these stories.

- Thank you, Nick.

- Thank you.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Seton Hall University.

Valley Bank.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

- (Inspirational Music) - (Narrator) Great drive fuels the leaders of tomorrow and today.

Great vision paves the way for a brighter future.

Great ambition goes places, moving onward and upward.

Great empathy finds strength in kindness and in each other, working together to create something bigger than they ever imagined.

Great minds can change the world and great minds start at Seton Hall.