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Lizzi ’71 honored by New Jersey school
In September, Joseph Lizzi ’71 received the 43rd Lloyd W. Ashby Award from the Ridgewood, N.J., school district. The award is given annually to a staff member for distinguished service.
Lizzi is one of two guidance counselors at Ridgewood’s BenjaminFranklinMiddle School. He starts each school year helping sixth-graders get acclimated to middle school; then, beginning in January, he focuses on helping eighth-graders prepare for their first year of high school. Lizzi is also involved in prepping fifth-graders for the leap from
elementary to middle school.
Lizzi is “what a guidance counselor is all about,” said one student. “He understands kids’ feelings, yet is very realistic.
He’s the best, no doubt about it.”
A career in education would not have been his choice as a high school student, admits Lizzi.
But he began to explore the idea at Lafayette as a biology major, and then went on to get a master’s degree in education from SetonHallUniversity.
He also earned certification for student personnel services, necessary to work as a guidance counselor.
“I love working with children,” says Lizzi. “At this age, they have a lot on their minds.” And that’s a good thing, he adds, because it creates a disposition toward life-long learning—as did his Lafayette experience.
“Learning the meaning of community by living at Soles Hall, participating in the soccer program (and) being able to visit and talk to professors at their homes fostered a sense of working together to achieve my goals,” he says.