High school student aspires to become DoDDS teacher

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique N. Smythe
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  He's young, driven, motivated and has a very clear view of his aspirations.

Meet Anthony Ciranni -- a 17-year-old Lajes Field High School student who dreams of becoming a teacher within the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, which he himself has been a part of since the age of five.

Recently, Anthony proved himself to be one of the most highly intelligent students, not just within DoDDS, but throughout all of the U.S. public school system, by scoring in the 97th percentile on the Preliminary SAT Test. As a commended National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, he became greatly eligible for scholarships and grants from many other colleges and universities.

"After I graduate this year, I plan to attend college, major in music education, and then I want to become a DoDDS band teacher and history teacher," he said.

Music is his passion, he loves history as well, and he also has a knack for teaching and mentoring, a skill which his parents said has been honed by his heavy involvement within the Eagle Scouts.

In November 2011, Anthony received some long awaited exciting news when he learned he'd been accepted into the DoDDS-Europe Jazz Seminar 2012 as one of six trombone players, out of 46 who auditioned, to play in Brussels, Belgium, from Jan. 8 through13.

"Anthony has auditioned for the past three years in hopes of being accepted into the DoDDS-Europe Jazz Seminar," said his high school band instructor, Ann Engles. "This year he spent countless hours preparing his audition music. With only six trombone students being accepted from all over DoDDS-Europe, Anthony is more than thrilled to have made the list."

The seminar allows students from throughout DoDDS-Europe to pay tribute to the greatest jazz musicians. At this seminar, Anthony had the opportunity to work with a number of professional musicians, as well as Professor Jiggs Whigham, an internationally known jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and educator.

Anthony has spent much of the last several years building a strong resumé to develop a successful career path. As a leader of various events and projects within the school, band and community, he's shown off his management skills, international experience and has achieved many honors and awards, such as National Honor Society 2011, Bausch Lomb Honorary Science Award 2011, Eagle Scout 2010, Outstanding Band Student 2010 and Youth Volunteer of the Year Award 2008, just to name a few.

This very well-rounded student has also been a part of the Future Educators of America, the Chess Club, the Model U.S. Senate, Academic Bowl, Cheer Team, Soccer, Golf, etc.

Most recently, Ms. Engles noted, as director of his school's jazz band, Anthony led the band during their Christmas concert in December 2011. Activities such as this allow him the practical application needed to do what he essentially intends to do after graduation.

This extremely goal-oriented student has already applied to four colleges. His first choice is Castleton State College in Vermont, a small college, which has a music education program and extracurricular activities, such as a marching band and jazz combo, plus, good skiing, which were all important on his list of requirements. Anthony intends to apply to DoDDS immediately upon completion of his college education.

Chuck and Laura Lee Ciranni, Anthony's parents, said they are very proud of their son, excited for his passion and the fact that he's very clear on exactly what he wants to do with his future.

Mr. Ciranni is a retired Air Force munitions master sergeant and currently the leader of Lajes' Eagle Scouts, and Mrs. Ciranni is a Lajes Elementary School kindergarten teacher.

We've been overseas since he was five years old, they said. He's a military child and he's traveled a lot. He's seen the world and he knows how things operate within the military community. These are all reasons why Anthony said he wants to continue his career within DoDDS.

"I basically grew up overseas, and so I want to stay overseas and continue to have all the different travel opportunities," he said. "I really enjoy music and I discovered through the scouts that I enjoy teaching, too, so I kind of put them together."

Anthony will graduate Lajes High School in June 2012.