Retired P.S. 14 physical education
teacher publishes children’s book
BY JASON COHEN
A Bronx physical education
teacher didn’t just educate her students
about sports and exercise, but
taught them character development
and how to be good people.
Glo DioDati, who retired four
years ago, taught for 37 years, 21 of
those at P.S. 14, Senator John D. Calandra
School, 3041 Bruckner Boulevard.
In September, she published a
book ‘Glo-wings Luke,’ which deals
with a young boy learning how to behave
and treat people.
In the book, Luke misbehaves and
runs into a tree full of butterfl ies. It is
there where the butterfl ies tell him in
order to be a better person he must do
three nice things each day.
She used to tell the story to her students
and they always enjoyed it. It
was only recently that she was able to
attach illustrations with it and make
a fi nished product.
“I think mainly it (the story) made
them feel good about whom they
were,” she said.
While the book came out a few
months ago, her passion for sports
and teaching began when she grew
up in Yonkers.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,8 DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2020 BTR
Retired PS 14 teacher Glo DioDati with her
book “Glowings and Luke.”
Schneps Media Jason Cohen
During her tenure at P.S. 14, she
developed programs that encouraged
students and staff to think with their
heart. She sang songs with the children,
did meditation and even made
three CDs; ‘Turning the Tide,’ ‘Celebrate
Yourself’ and ‘Under the Stars.’
“Two or three years into the job I
realized it’s such a perfect platform to
teach kids about respecting and loving
each other,” she said.
DioDati knew that kids bullied
and insulted each other too much and
wanted to change that. She noted that
often in sports kids were picked on if
they were slow or couldn’t catch.
“When that started happening, I
realized this is not happening in my
gym,” she recalled.
She introduced character education
lessons and taught kids to respect
each other. DioDati used slogans,
such as ‘Think with Your Heart,’ ‘Celebrate
Yourself,’ ‘Your Beautiful’ and
‘Change.’
She taught the kids there’s no such
thing as failure and that their actions
affect everyone, not just themselves.
“When I said think with your heart,
you could kind of see their wheels turning,”
she remarked.
According to DioDati, one of the
most important lessons she taught the
youngsters was about self worth. She
would look them in the eye and ask
who they were and it wasn’t until they
truly got to know themselves that they
realized they were loved.
She joked how often at parent
teacher conferences, moms and dads
were astonished to learn how well behaved
their kids were in class and at
home were the opposite.
DioDati read the book to P.S. 14 and
it was a big hit with the kids. In fact,
one student said it was one of the he
best books she ever heard.
“The fact that they embrace it and
you can see that kids want to hear the
positive message, it kind of inspires me
to keep moving on,” she commented.
To learn more about her go to www.
glodiodati.com
“Glowings and Luke,” a children’s book written
by retired PS 14 teacher Glo DioDati
Photo Courtesy Mikey Colon
/www.glodiodati.com
/www.glodiodati.com
/glodiodati.com