Name: Melissa D’Annunzio
Hometown: Summerville, SC
Subject(s): High School English
Personal Info (optional)—family info, alma mater, etc.:
I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and I spent my preschool years in France. My parents met one another while studying in Paris at the Sorbonne (isn’t that romantic?). My father was an Iowa farm boy who decided that he wanted a PhD in French, and my mother, who was born in Poland, had relatives in France that invited her to come study. During those years, I spent a lot of time with extended family by the seashore playing on enormous sand dunes and eating fabulous French food! When I came back to the states, I spoke English with a French accent, and I still remember a lot of French.
I grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, since my father taught at the University of Oklahoma. Since I was an only child and my parents forbid most television (it was really embarrassing), reading was my favorite form of entertainment. I studied French/Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, and I earned my MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry degree at the University of Alabama. I went on to earn my MA in Secondary Education/English, and I got my first teaching job in Charleston, SC.
I met my husband, Dennis, a computer engineer, soon after moving to South Carolina, and we now live in Summerville with our two young sons, Aaron and Nate, ages 6 and 4. Dennis is into aerial robotics, and unfortunately, I can never understand anything he tells me regarding his work. My boys are wonderful children. I do hope that the daily “sad” notes detailing their disruptive antics at school and daycare will slow down at some point this school year (maybe by Spring Break?) because it’s mortifying to be a teacher who has children that terrorize other teachers. But other than that they’re charming and perfect(ly crazy) little fellas.
Some day, I would like to write and publish an interesting and fun novel or book of poems for young adults (or old ones), but, first, I need to answer a pile of k-mails!
Most Embarrassing Moment: Recently, I helped my five year old with his homework. When the teacher returned it, I realized that I still don’t know that 3+2=5. My son and I thought that it equaled 4. That’s why I went into English!
