Central’s New Faces: 2018-2019 Edition

Mr. Charlie Picone, '80
Mr. Charlie Picone, ’80

With the end of the first semester of the year approaching quickly, it seems necessary to take a look at the new faces of Central Catholic who have had their experience teaching here. I had the pleasure of interviewing three of the new teachers: Mr. Charles Picone ’80, Mrs. Stacie Ball, and Mr. Anthony Erlandson, each of whom have their own and stories for why they are at Central today.
Let’s start with Mr. Picone, who is Mr. McCarthy’s replacement as Central’s sole French teacher. Mr. Picone is an alumnus of Central from the class of 1980. He took French all throughout high school and lived in Belgium at one point so his French is magnifique. Mr. Picone was also a member of the U.S. Air Force for twenty-three years and had the opportunity to go to Africa, specifically French speaking nations, to visit the U.S. embassies. He said that teaching at Central is a “dream come true.”  His wishes to say to the Central students who take his class that he hopes to open the doors for students so that they may see language in a new light, rather than as a bunch of grammar on a page. Mr. Picone hopes to push students on the path to becoming bilingual.

Mrs. Stacie Ball
Mrs. Stacie Ball

Mrs. Ball is the new physics teacher, taking over Mr. Nogay’s classes following his move up to replace Dr. Leonard teaching Honors and AP Physics. She always wanted to teach in a Catholic high school because of how important her faith is to her. Mrs. Ball comes to Central having previously taught at Hampton, North Catholic, and Seneca. She emphasizes her excitement and dedication to not only to teaching, but to learn about Lasallian education. She wants to have her students connect our Lasallian education to our Catholic faith. Finally, she wants to let the students of Central Catholic know that she wants to be able to teach physics to students in hands-on way, allowing them to apply the concepts they learn to real life.

Mr. Anthony Erlandson
Mr. Anthony Erlandson

Finally, Mr. Erlandson. Mr. Erlandson comes to us from Indianapolis where he attended Catholic high school, which led him to choose Central. Mr. Erlandson is also one of the coaches for the ultimate frisbee (which also contributed to his decision). He also taught at Chartiers Valley and at one point taught cybersecurity in Washington D.C. as he was one of many foreign language analysists. Mr. Erlandson hopes to convey to his students the value to experiencing Spanish culture through a foreign language classroom and hopes to rid the stereotype of what a Spanish classroom consists of. He also asked me to tell all of you that if you are interested in joining the ultimate frisbee team and/or have any questions about so to contact him at: [email protected]

These are just some of the new teachers at Central. Despite my only interviewing of three, I have no doubt that the they and the other newcomers will not only have a long life here at Central but will also lead on and bring memories to the next generation of Central Catholic students.