Yana Patel, Social Media Manager
November 21, 2023
As students walk into the library they are always greeted with a warm and sweet smile from Mrs. Leavy. But before she got married, her maiden name was Macchia, in which many people know her as Mrs. Macchia. She has been working at Port Chester High School for 4 years as a Librarian but this is her first year teaching. She teaches two IB courses: Theory Of Knowledge Year 1 for juniors and Year 2 for seniors.
Mrs. Macchia’s maternal grandparents were World War II Italian refugees who were granted a visa to come to the United States. Her father was an Italian Almond Tree Farmer who immigrated to the United States in 1985. Both sides of her family ended up in Astoria, a neighborhood in Queens, New York. Astoria was where her parents first met. Mrs. Macchia was born in Manhattan and lived in Astoria for a few years. She and her family eventually moved to Mt. Vernon where she spent her childhood perpetually outside.
Growing up, Mrs. Macchia LOVED history and anthropology. She originally considered going into archaeology but didn’t want to spend too much time away from home. From a young age, she knew the ins and outs of a library. This was due to her mom being a school librarian where she was constantly brought to on her days off from school. Her mom was her inspiration to be a school librarian. She was trained to do this career at an early age in which she felt really comfortable pursuing. The only tricky part with this career path was deciding which grade level she wanted to go into. Her mother was a librarian for middle schoolers but Mrs. Macchia prefers high school. The only sport she has done is speed walking to catch the Metro North because she refused to spend money to take the subway!
For her undergraduate degree, Mrs. Macchia majored in Public Affairs at CUNY Baruch and got her masters degree in school library science at CUNY Queens. During her college years, she had multiple jobs. She was first an office manager in DeCiccos and then a museum intern at the Italian American Museum. After this she was a Teaching Assistant at CUNY Baruch. She later was an English teacher for 6 weeks in Argentina. Lastly, she was a Press Intern at the Governor’s NYC Office.
This past year, Mrs. Macchia has been busy with wedding planning but when she isn’t doing anything wedding related, she enjoys working on her calligraphy and doodling in her bullet journal. She also likes gardening, hence her being the advisor for the Environmental Club. Her husband has grown pumpkins and tomatoes in their own backyard this year! Besides gardening and artsy work, she likes to reference her movie list and watch new movies or practice her cooking skills. Fun fact, Mrs. Macchia and her husband are attempting to visit all 50 states slowly.
If Mrs. Macchia was never a school Librarian, she would have been an archeologist. As she stated, “Digging in the dirt for ancient ceramics? Count me in.” During her time at PCHS, there is one word she likes to describe her experience here: Risk Takers. Funny thing to note, “Risk Taking” is from the IB Learners Profile as she is an Extended Essay Advisor for the IB Diploma Program! One advice that she would give to students here at Port Chester High School would be to stop procrastinating!! You can tell she sees many students stressing out in completing their work last minute. In her own words she says: “Planning out and doing the work early (or within a good timeline) will save you so many tears.”
Overall, Mrs. Macchia is a very important member to our Ramily. Not only is she a Librarian and a teacher, but she is also a friend to many. We are grateful to have her a part of this school community and can’t wait to see what else she does during her time at Port Chester High School.