Piscataway High School is home to over 2,000 students and over 150 staff members who strive to make the school a better, safer place to make some of the most crucial memories of your lives.  At PHS, the staff are people we interact with everyday and are the people we rely on. They have seen us as incoming freshmen to almost independent seniors. Which is why many of us have someone who we admire, look up to, or just someone to laugh with. For many students, this person is Mr. Drew Calvo, previously a dean but now an interim assistant principal at PHS.

Vice Principal Calvo is someone who has been at the school for over 20 years.  He began as a teacher in the practical arts department, then became a dean, and is now a VP. During this entire time, he has also been a firefighter and EMT (Emergency medical Technician).  To do all of this for so long, it takes a perpetual amount of patience, but what has kept him going this whole time is his ability to relate with young people and his desire to help them chart a positive path.

Calvo said, “learning how to mature” and “trying to figure this all out [while] doing [their] best” is one of the reasons he “relates to [high school kids] the best”.  Calvo continued, “young people…don’t have all of the answers in the world, and it is my job to help [them] find those answers”. He acknowledged the fact that “[His] answers might not be the right answers” however, maybe finding a common ground can help us “figure [it] out.”

However, doing all of this requires a strong and meaningful connection.  Learning how to make a profound one with each and every student he comes across can be a challenge, but one of the key concepts for him to build this connection is by letting students know that they are being heard.

Calvo said he tries “paying attention”, “listening to [students]” , and actually “be[ing] interested” in what “[students] are talking about.” Moreover, “the reason why kids get mad is because they feel they’re not being heard.” Giving students a space to feel heard shows one of the significant reasons why he is so universally respected.

Aside from all of these aspects, Mr. Calvo has made so many memories of his own, but the ones that most stand out are the ones that relate to students’ growth.

He said, “going to students’ graduations and seeing the growth they have made from freshman year to their graduation day” is something to really be applauded. And “getting an opportunity to teach some of the children of alumni that I once taught” is another (but not limited to) “cool part” about his job!

As we finished the interview, Mr. Calvo shared some advice about dealing with a situations that can creates a lot of stress and pressure.

He thinks it is important to be aware of when your body and mind is telling you to “change gears and do something different”.  At that point he tries to do things that “take care of [him]” and  “make [him] happy” like “listen[ing] to music,” or “tak[ing] a mental health day”.  He also thinks it is important to take into consideration what would “fit right for that day” because not all days are the same.

Calvo left me with one final piece of advice: “Don’t become stale, that is when the fun dries up.”