Do you know Mr. Rotella? If you don’t, he is the newest member of the Wantagh High School teaching staff. He is a pretty cool guy and there is definitely a lot of interesting things about him. Wantagh has recently accepted him into our community with welcome arms.

Mr. Rotella, who teaches seventh grade and geometry math classes, grew up in Smithtown, NY. He attended school at Providence College where he played lacrosse, which he is still very much involved in today. What made him want to become a teacher?

“While I was playing lacrosse in college I realized I wanted to be a coach and work with kids, “ he said. “As a teacher it gave me the chance to work with students.”

Have you ever thought about being a mascot for your school team? Realistically you probably haven’t, but for $100 a game, maybe you should! Mr. Rotella was the mascot for the LI Lizards and for as a college student, he made pretty good money.

Mr. Rotella currently coaches varsity lacrosse at Smithtown West, which he loves. He plays lacrosse twice a week and also enjoys running. He has been married to his wife of two years who presently teaches at Hewlett High School.

He has a lot of experience. He taught at Brentwood High School for 6 years. The transition from Brentwood, with a student body of 4300, to Wantagh has been a good one. Wantagh is a much smaller community and Mr. Rotella says he likes his job here much better and loves all the hardworking teachers and students. When he heard he got the new teaching position, he was overjoyed.