By Cassie Honeycutt and Michael Pearson, Editor-in-Chief and Multimedia Editor 

Even as students begin to walk through the doors again, First Flight High School will never be truly the same for those who are mourning a man they considered to be a great teacher and a beloved friend.

Carpentry teacher Mike Pitzulo died in October in the midst of remote learning and just before students were set to return to hybrid instruction.

“Mr. P is that teacher that did things his way,” Principal Chuck Lansing said. “But if you followed along, he very quickly made very strong connections with his students and worked to include everybody in his classroom and the things that they were doing.”

Included in that idea of “doing things his way” – Pitzulo was an incredibly private individual and there was no obituary or plans for a memorial service made public at the time of his death. Pitzulo, who was 63, had battled leukemia for the past 18 years and had attributed his longevity to being active. A family member took his remains back to Pennsylvania.

Pitzulo had taught at First Flight since 2018 after a career in the military and kept the workshop busy in his carpentry and construction classes. News of his death was shared with staff, and then guidance counselors began calling his students one by one. Before long, students began recalling who Pitzulo was to them.

“He was a great teacher. He was definitely devoted to his work and his students,” junior Noah Adams said. “Whenever you had a question or anything, he was always available.”

Pitzulo wasn’t just a teacher to his students. He built relationships by finding time to talk to them and have personal moments. 

“Literally everybody in his class at Empower Time would surround his desk and we’d all talk about one thing. It was pretty cool,” sophomore Cortlyn Easton said. 

There was never a dull moment in Pitzulo’s class, with students constantly working on school-related and personal projects with tools and equipment many of them had never seen before walking through his door.

“He didn’t like to sit at a desk and do worksheets,” Adams said. “We got to do a lot of hands-on activities where we would actually work on and build things. It was great.”

Pitzulo’s energetic personality and independent teaching style allowed for a classroom environment full of creativity and helped him develop a dedicated following from his students as he taught both trades and life lessons.

“He made me realize that everything you do you have to work towards,” Easton said. “The man hated sanding wood. But he always did it and always told us that if you ever want to get anything right, you have to sand things, which is hard work.”

From bookshelves to skateboard racks, there were always new ideas and tasks flooding into Pitzulo’s room from not only students, but teachers as well. 

“We would always have like 10 projects to do for teachers,” senior Will Roepcke said. “He never said no if someone needed help. I don’t think that man even knew how to say no.”

Last March, Pitzulo, Roepcke and the rest of his advanced study class built and installed skateboard racks in the front office of First Flight Middle School in a story that received attention throughout the community. 

“The highlight of my son’s day was going to Mr. P’s class,” said Will’s father, Frank Roepcke. “I wish I could thank him for what he did with the kids in the class.”

Senior Cassie Honeycutt can be contacted at 21honeycuttca35@daretolearn.org.

Junior Michael Pearson can be contacted at 22pearsonmi74@daretolearn.org.