Teacher Spotlight on Mr. Bill Siegel

Leading to serve

The door to Mr. Seigel’s room at Abington High School reminds students of those who serve and how they can as well. May 21, 2021.

Rebecca Donahue, Contributor
May 20, 2021

Mr. Bill Siegel started at Abington High School 25 years ago in 1996. Having grown up on both Long Island and Cape Cod, he had never heard of Abington until he started working here.

Siegel is a teacher of Academic Support and Community Service in room 2205.

He said that his favorite part about teaching is “enjoying my time in the Special Education department.” In the department, “I treasure the relationships with my co-workers and tracking the success of the Academic Support class students.” He said that “some highlights of the week are Fun Fridays and Community Service Jeopardy.

Siegel finds teaching exciting because “no two school days, classes, or school years are the same,” he said.

Other than classroom teaching, Siegel spends his time working with the Peer Leaders and Community Service groups. He said that “over the years, Peer Leaders has done many things to bring hope and joy to the residents at the Colony Center in Abington.”

Some things the members of Peer Leaders have done is “send Pen Pal Letters, Valentine’s Day Cards, Thank You for Your Service Letters, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Cards,” Siegel said. “The new thing this year is Messages of Hope power point presentations.”

Siegel has been running Peer Leaders for over 20 years. When asked why he wanted to advise it, he said “Peer Leaders was already a program, then I took it over. I started a partnership with the Colony Center.”

Over the years, Siegel has added activities for the Peer Leaders to do. They have done a Reading for Our Vets program and We Do Care projects. This year, they did a reading program to benefit Saint Jude’s research hospital.

When asked what his favorite part about Peer Leaders is, Siegel said, “I enjoy Peer Leaders because you get to see so many students help out and make a big impact on the community.”

After the COVID- 19 pandemic is over, Mr. Siegel hopes for “students to look back and see how they persevered through the adversity they faced.”