Malden High’s longtime teacher, Joseph Luongo, is retiring. After serving the district for 18 years and the high school for 12 of those years, Luongo is retiring from his position as an art teacher to further enjoy life outside of work.
For the first six years as an art teacher, Luongo described his time at the Linden School as “wonderful and intense” as he felt that teaching all 900 children by himself was a position more suited for a younger teacher.
Looking back, he stated that the most memorable and favorable moments he had were being able to show students techniques and projects he wished he was able to do in school. Luongo feels that not having any art classes available in his high school did impede his growth artistically but through hard work and love for the arts, he did manage to overcome his lack of experience and get accepted to Massachusetts College of Art & Design. Upon graduation, he worked in advertising as an art director, as well as an illustrator at a number of agencies for over 20 years.
While at home freelancing, he “stumbled into teaching by accident” after he was asked by his daughter’s elementary school principal to teach art in an after-school program. After foolishly determining that “teaching is easy”, he got licensed and applied to several districts before getting hired at Malden Public Schools. Luongo described his decision to become a teacher as the best accident he’s ever had.
Luongo will live on be one of those teachers who have made a permanent impact on Malden High. Luongo has proven to help students with their goals academically, socially, and mentally as he has made an image of himself that will last for generations.
“He’s very understanding and like laid back, he was a really good teacher that could support me in a lot of ways, not just like in academics and like his class subject, but also like mentally,” claimed sophomore Mailee “Moon” To.
Leticia Carvalho, a senior at Malden High School, shared a thought about Luongo as she will be “joining” him in his leave of the school as she will be graduating soon. “Mr. Luongo, he’s like a role model because he really knows his art stuff and he knows how to figure out art because he just knows his stuff. He has been doing art for a very long time, more than I have,” stated Carvalho.
Luongo appears to have the Midas’ touch as he touches the hearts of students and turns them into gold.
“He’s my goat, he’s not just like a teacher. I feel like he’s a really good guide. He’s a really good leader for me. He taught me a lot of things that I didn’t know about art and since I’m really passionate about that, it will really help with my career,” stated To.
“He has impacted my life with me and my growth by improving my art a lot. If I hadn’t taken his class and improved my art with realism and other media with art, then I don’t think I would’ve been able to enter the college that I will be going to in September,” Carvalho passionately stated.
Mr. Luongo has also proven to “open a new world” to students as he has successfully helped them get out of their shells and develop better social skills and generally help them emerge from their cocoons and ascend to another level.
“I think after taking his class for a year, like there’s a lot of good experiences that I had in that class. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more social, especially with my peers. Like he really encourages that even though he’s pretty serious about getting your work done,” said To.
Yassir Halaissi, a sophomore participating in the digital art class with Luongo, claims Luongo was his “art inspiration” and has taught him many things in the digital art world. “He’s my art inspiration. He’s a great guy with a creative mind. He’s done things that I could never, ever think of, and he’s touched me. He’s taught me so much,” Halaissi claimed.
Alijah Jean-Jacques, also a sophomore at Malden High taking digital art, shared his opinion on the upcoming retiree. “I feel like any other teacher, they may be as chill as him, but I don’t think they’re going to be as good as him,” Jean-Jacques emphasized.
Ranging from students in his digital art class and even directed studies, Luongo has developed a sense of charisma added to his persona.
“He is really nice. I would go to him like when I didn’t have class and he let me inside his class,” said Waleed Hussien, a freshman in Luongo’s directed study.
Memories are a big part of Luongo’s legacy as students share their memories with their beloved art teachers.
“The memories I share with him are whenever we make jokes about movies or dumb shows that we hate a lot and stuff like that because he has a lot of opinions about certain movies. So every time me and my friend hear him joke, we always laugh. His jokes about the movie that he dislikes a lot and stuff like that,” claimed Carvalho.
“Some memories I share with Mr. Luongo is me walking into his classroom for the first time ever, not knowing what this class is about or anything that was going to happen. At first, we didn’t seem to get along for like the first two classes, but after that, things really picked up and my mood for the class switched. I really started liking it. And actually, to be honest, that was probably one of my most fun classes at the time,” Halaissi stated confidently.
Although they are grateful for the impact Luongo has made in Malden High and how retirement is due to suit him after all of his years of hard work and dedication to the high school, students feel that Luongo is irreplaceable to Malden High School.
“I kind of feel sad, but it’s a new beginning for Malden High and a new beginning for Mr. Luongo,” Halaissi stated emphatically.
“I really genuinely think nobody could replace Mr. Luongo just because of how long he’s been here and how much he’s impacted each individual student,” added Halaissi.
“His impact on Malden and like the art department is really strong. I think everyone who has ever had him is really going to miss him even if they only had him for a semester,” claimed To.
It’s obvious that Joseph Luongo has been a positive influence throughout his years of involvement in Malden and Malden High School. It’s an understatement to say that he is leaving the school in good place.
