Sixth-grade teacher Tim Cammisa turned a lifelong passion into a school tradition, leading the Fly Fishing Club at Haine Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District for nearly a decade. Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael sit down with Tim to talk about the persistence and confidence students build on the water and how conservation and ecosystem lessons cast a wider net than the sport itself.
Sixth-grade teacher Tim Cammisa turned a lifelong passion into a school tradition, leading the Fly Fishing Club at Haine Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District for nearly a decade. Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael sit down with Tim to talk about the persistence and confidence students build on the water and how conservation and ecosystem lessons cast a wider net than the sport itself.
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Voiceover:
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting edge classroom strategies to thought-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin:
Hello, and welcome to Duty Free Lunch. I'm PSEA President Aaron Chapin. I'm here once again with PSEA Vice President Jeff Ney. How's it going, Jeff?
Jeff Ney:
It is going fantastic.
Aaron Chapin:
We just making small talk.
Jeff Ney:
Okay.
Aaron Chapin:
Not to mention we're here with PSEA Treasurer, Rachael West. How's it going, Rachael?
Rachael West:
It's going great.
Aaron Chapin:
How's the family?
Rachael West:
They're good. I'm going to meet them after musical practice tonight.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh.
Jeff Ney:
What are they practicing?
Rachael West:
Sometimes they're practicing for Annie.
Aaron Chapin:
Annie.
Rachael West:
It's a hard knock life.
Jeff Ney:
Sun will come out tomorrow.
Aaron Chapin:
I really don't enjoy that musical.
Jeff Ney:
Really?
Aaron Chapin:
I know. We've just offended about five of our listeners. That's half of them. Annie, huh? Are they excited?
Rachael West:
I think my daughter's a little more excited than my son, but yeah.
Aaron Chapin:
And what roles are they?
Rachael West:
They are orphans and cabinet members.
Aaron Chapin:
Okay. Cabinet members?
Rachael West:
I have not-
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, because the president's in them.
Jeff Ney:
Right.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right. Not Obama, right?
Rachael West:
I don't believe so. I think that's the wrong time period, my friend.
Aaron Chapin:
It could be a present day rendition.
Rachael West:
Maybe.
Jeff Ney:
We'll see what color suit he's got on.
Aaron Chapin:
I love that tan suit. I've got that tan suit. So the family's good.
Rachael West:
They're good.
Aaron Chapin:
How's your family?
Jeff Ney:
Molly's doing fantastic.
Aaron Chapin:
That's great. I'm glad everybody's having a wonderful day. Ready to get into this?
Jeff Ney:
Oh, I am eager to get into this.
Rachael West:
I'm ready.
Aaron Chapin:
Jeff is the most excited I've seen him. And this is like our 63rd, 64th podcast.
Rachael West:
I know, but he's pretty excited about this topic.
Aaron Chapin:
I know. I know.
Jeff Ney:
It's a great guest.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, and eventually when it plays, because we got a lot of podcasts in the bank, so it'll be sometime this spring.
Jeff Ney:
Perfect timing.
Aaron Chapin:
It'll be fishing season.
Jeff Ney:
It will be fishing season.
Aaron Chapin:
It will be. It says here we've got a fun podcast in store for you today.
Jeff Ney:
It's going to be fun.
Aaron Chapin:
Did you write this?
Jeff Ney:
I helped.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, it is going to be fun. In all seriousness, because it's about a program that we really love hearing about these kind of things, it's a program that's going to get students out of the classroom, which we love to hear that. And getting them into the great outdoors, which we don't see enough of these days. It's a great idea if you can pull it off. I'm guessing if you're down in Chester-Upland and you're going into the school, probably not a good idea.
Rachael West:
Probably not.
Aaron Chapin:
No?
Rachael West:
No.
Aaron Chapin:
Those fish glow.
Rachael West:
Probably. Like the beginning of the Simpsons.
Aaron Chapin:
Anyway, it's a great program. It teaches students that a lifelong skill, it's going to get them to discover that they're capable, Jeff, of doing more than they thought. You should have had this back in high school.
Jeff Ney:
I should have had this back in-
Aaron Chapin:
You would have done-
Jeff Ney:
I probably could.
Aaron Chapin:
Yeah. You would have-
Jeff Ney:
Who knows where I would have been?
Aaron Chapin:
Not here. Ready, Rachael?
Rachael West:
I'm ready.
Aaron Chapin:
What's the catch? This podcast is going to have so many puns today. It's going to be awesome. Well, answer my ridiculous question. Look, we're going to get today's guest and let him explain all this. We got Tim Cammisa. Did I get that right, Tim?
Tim Cammisa:
You were pretty darn close this time, Aaron.
Aaron Chapin:
Sorry. What is it, Tim?
Tim Cammisa:
No, you got it. Tim Cammisa.
Aaron Chapin:
All right.
Jeff Ney:
Yeah. You got it.
Tim Cammisa:
I'm glad to be here.
Aaron Chapin:
And he's a sixth grade teacher at Haine Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District. For all you out there, that's the Midwest region, everybody. He is the leader of the school's Fly Fishing Club. Now, Jeff.
Jeff Ney:
Yes.
Aaron Chapin:
That doesn't talk about how you dress. Just in fly.
Jeff Ney:
No.
Aaron Chapin:
No. This is about fly fishing, everybody. Tim, welcome to the podcast.
Tim Cammisa:
Well, thank you guys. Thanks, Jeff. Thanks, Aaron. Thanks, Rachael. I appreciate it.
Aaron Chapin:
Rachael's ready to leave the studio right now.
Jeff Ney:
She's got one foot out the door.
Aaron Chapin:
But she's going to kids that are at musical rehearsal, so I'm not sure if that's a great alternative.
Jeff Ney:
That's okay. We'll reel her back into this podcast.
Aaron Chapin:
Tim, how are you doing today?
Tim Cammisa:
Hey, I'm doing really good.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, as I said, by the time this airs, it is going to be time for you to be outside fishing. I assume you're not fishing quite yet, right?
Tim Cammisa:
No, not exactly. Ice fishing is not my forte. I like a little bit warmer.
Aaron Chapin:
Yeah. Me too. I don't fish.
Jeff Ney:
I know you don't.
Aaron Chapin:
I know. So let's get right to it. Tim, I'd like you to paint a picture for us. So let's take us back to that day this past November when your students were out there headed to the Conway Sportsman's Club. They're going to be putting their fly fishing skills to the test for the first time. What was going through your mind as you watched them put months of practice into action, Tim?
Tim Cammisa:
Oh my gosh. I mean, honestly, I was just praying none of them would hook themselves, to be honest. I mean, that's the first thing. I'll be very clear. But no, in all seriousness, anytime you have an opportunity to bring a group of students outside into nature to kind of share something that you love yourself, I mean, you know great things are going to happen. And in this case, we're talking about a Fly Fishing Club. We typically have anywhere between eight and 12 students that are a part of it. And some of them have fished before. Some had never picked up a fly rod, let alone a fishing rod until that first opportunity where we went outside and we practiced casting. And then from that point, they kind of knew that we had this culminating event. And in this case, you're talking about our fall trip to a little sportsman's club that's local to our area.
And we got them all packed up, got them on the bus, and these kids were just so excited getting there. And they just kept yelling out, "Are we there? Are we there?" It's kind of like when you're taking that family vacation, they just kept looking out every drop of water they thought was the lake we were going to, even though I'd shown them on Google Maps where we were headed. And then you finally get there and the door opens and you just have to hold back their energy for like 10 minutes so you can give them an overview of where they're going to stand, where we're going to have lunch, just all those little basics before they are just off and running and just trying to catch as many fish as they can.
Rachael West:
That's awesome. So I imagine there's a lot that the students need to learn and practice before they ever get anywhere near that lake. Could you tell us a little bit about what they have to learn, what they have to practice before you take them on this trip?
Tim Cammisa:
Yeah. You got it. Well, I'm lucky at my school. Our principals enacted something called a club period where once a week or once every two weeks we have clubs with students. And the teachers get to select their own clubs. And I chose fly fishing. And then once all these clubs are kind of arranged, students select them and they go into this, I don't want to call it a lottery, but I've been fortunate over the last few years that the Fly Fishing Club has been the most popular. So we get just an enormous amount of students that want to join this club. And in the meantime, I don't want to say it's like writing curriculum, but I'm just going through and saying to myself, how many sessions will I have with these students before we make it to, in this case, the fishing club? So if I get six sessions, how can I really just maximize that?
And in this case, for that fall session, we were talking about taking them fishing. And that was something that I knew taking someone fishing can involve a lot of things. I mean, if you just bring it back down to basics, you have to just figure out how to string up a fly rod. You have to figure out how to, not even before you make a cast, but tie on a leader, tie on a tippet, tie on your flies, make a cast. And then once you make that cast, you don't just let it sit out there. Fly fishing's a little bit more of an active sport. So you have to figure out how to manipulate the flies. And then once a fish does eat, that seems like, oh, it's the easy spot or that's the easy part. I mean, it's not. You have to set the hook correctly because they're in a lake and different things can happen.
And once they set the hook, it's not like traditional fishing where they're reeling in on this reel that has a really strong gear ratio. Instead, they're basically stripping in line as fast as they can while maintaining pressure. So then once they kind of get the fish close, then you have to have a net ready and you want to make sure either one of the adults has a net, not one of the kiddos, because they're going to jump in after the fish because they think they can get closer to them. So there are just so many things that you have to take into consideration before you're even anywhere close to the trip. But when I dial it back, I kind of say to myself, what's the most important skill do I want them to kind of gain out of this? And then for sure, it's learning how to cast a fly rod. So that's really number one in my approach to getting these kids excited about everything.
Jeff Ney:
So Tim, how long have you been fly fishing yourself?
Tim Cammisa:
Gosh, around 36 years. I learned whenever I was in fourth grade, I took an afterschool fly tying class. So I actually learned how to tie flies, which is kind of imitate what the trout eats. And then from that point I got really excited, then I started fly fishing.
Jeff Ney:
And you even wrote a book on the subject, correct?
Tim Cammisa:
Yeah. I've written a couple books over the last few years. Yeah. I never kind of looked at myself as someone that was going to be writing books while I was teaching. I figured I absolutely love my day job and I just kind of took it from that approach. But maybe 15 years ago, I started a little YouTube channel just sharing my hobby, sharing the idea of tying flies. And at one point, a publisher and I were hanging out and we had some just conversations, just very light conversations. And afterwards he messaged me and he was like, "Hey, do you know anyone who would write a book on fly tying?" And I kind of thought maybe when I retire from teaching, I could see myself writing some type of fictional fishing stories, but never an informational text that would be kind of accepted into mainstream fly fishing. So I've been pretty lucky in that regard.
Jeff Ney:
It's very rare to be able to take a passion like you have that we can hear in your voice and turn it into a school club reality. And you've been doing this with the kids for over a decade. So give me the transition between your love of fishing and converting it into a club.
Tim Cammisa:
Well, let me first preface, especially for all the listeners out there, for anyone who's saying, "I have something I'm really excited about and I'm not sure if I want to share with the students." By all means, get that out of your head. I wish I would have done it sooner. For some reason in my mind, it was kind of like teaching is teaching and fly fishing's outside of that realm. Not because students didn't fish. I just didn't want the two worlds to collide and I just didn't think there'd be a nice overlap for them. In fact, whenever I told you a moment ago that I started a YouTube channel, I really didn't want that to even kind of come into the idea of my classroom. I didn't want people to think, oh, I was having my students watch my YouTube videos or anything like that.
And especially knowing the world of social media, whenever I first started posting stuff, the fish pictures, that type of stuff, I didn't even really feel comfortable doing so. I had to make sure there was no overlap with school. And obviously nothing's ever filmed or anything like that whenever we're thinking about public education. But I just didn't have in my head that it would be accepted in a school setting. And at some point, one of my administrators said to me, "Hey, we're doing these clubs. Why don't you do fly fishing? This would be perfect. I'll give you a substitute for the day if you want to take the kids fishing." And that kind of blew my mind like, "You're going to pay me to go fishing with kids." Now my principal-
Jeff Ney:
That's the greatest day.
Tim Cammisa:
My principal's telling me I can go multiple times a year. They want me to get out there with those kiddos just because they're seeing the impact it's having. I mean, there's a kid that walk down the hall now that you have no connection with, but they know I'm a fisherman. And immediately they come up and they're like, "Hey, I know we're not supposed to have our phones in school, but can I show you a picture of this bass that I caught last night?" And it's like just to get that connection with kids in a different way has completely changed my perception of this.
Aaron Chapin:
So Tim, for a lot of your students, it's the first time catching a fish. So what do you see when you're watching these kids in those moments when they're catching those fish for the first time?
Tim Cammisa:
I mean, to them, you can just kind of see it's completely magical just because there's so much of our world right now that's just driven around technology and phones and kind of that whole idea of you click a button and you get something. And with fishing, it's not easy. And I think that's the tricky part of it is that we go into this fishing trip and we really have a pretty good setup where the club knows we're coming. Sometimes they'll have stock rainbow trout there in the last month or so or even two weeks prior. So you know there's an opportunity to catch fish. But you get there and you think, "Oh, we're going to catch fish." And those students are dying to. And every now and then I'll even make a cast just to kind of show them some things and I'll hook a fish.
And it's really frustrating for me personally to hook a fish in front of the group because now I've just shown them that it only took me one cast and I hook a fish. And then I hand them the fly rods and they're off for an hour, hour and a half, multiple hours sharing a fly rod with a partner and not catching a fish. And it can be really, really frustrating for those kiddos. So now to get to your question, when they finally do hook a fish and they set the hook correctly and I'm close to them, I'm kind of coaching them through that experience and the fish is getting closer. And when it finally gets into the net, you can see this, I don't know, this sense of relief, this sense of joy, this sense of celebration all going through their head like I did it.
And to see that and to be a part of it, it's incredible. And then at times, the next part, I'm sure Jeff knows where this is going. I'll say to them, "Do you want to hold the fish?" And some of the kids, we have a lot of girls who go in this club too and they're like, "Absolutely." And there's other kids who are like, "I do." And as soon as they get in their hands, it just starts swimming around and that's it.
Jeff Ney:
Moving.
Tim Cammisa:
They're like, "No, no. Can you hold it for the picture?" But I mean, those are just the moments that this is just built around.
Aaron Chapin:
Excellent.
Jeff Ney:
Tim, with all of the things that have to go into fishing that I... I mean, I'm a fisherman myself, so I understand you have to make sure that the fly is correct for the season that you're fishing in, for the fish that you're trying to hook, the spot on the lake that might hold the fish to its habitat. All of these things come into that whole teaching moment. I can imagine that that's like that holy grail, that aha moment that you're teaching these kids that they have to be persistent with all of this stuff. Is that more along the lines of what your club brings to these students or is it truly just we want them going out there and catch a fish?
Tim Cammisa:
Gosh, I don't know if I've ever truly defined that. I mean, I'm very intentional in everything that I do in life. And I know even with my approach to fly fishing and my approach to the Fly Fishing Club, I put a lot of intention and I really focus on the purpose behind doing things and how they fit into the big picture. So whenever I'm with the students, which I would love to get their opinion on this as well, just to kind of think what do they look at it from that approach and from that side of things. But I know whenever I take a step back, sure, I want to say, yeah, it's getting them outside, but that's an easy answer. I mean, we can take them outside to school anytime we want to in reality. But from that fishing perspective, it's more about that big picture, just everything going on from that conservation piece, because we'll try our best to tie that in as well.
Also, their connection with nature. And then the whole idea of, I think you kind of said that word, that persistence, to know that you're going to have struggles throughout that process. And it's not going to be easy. I mean, the first day I take them out and I teach them how to cast a fly rod. I mean, I'll get out there and I do a quick little demo for them, a five-minute demo, and I'll shoot line anywhere from 40 to 60 feet. And not trying to show off at all. I mean, I can double that amount. But then I hand them the fly rod and the next thing you know, you just look around, there's kids that are just tied up in fishing lines. They have no idea what they're doing. And you can just look at them and they're like, "Wait, how did you do this that easy?" And it shows them it's a process.
There's a lot of students in my area that love to play soccer and they know when they first learn how to juggle a soccer ball to where they are today, that takes time. It takes persistence. It takes a lot of engagement as well. And this is a sport that really gets kids engaged.
Jeff Ney:
Yeah. I can see that.
Rachael West:
That's awesome. You mentioned something about talking with the students about conservation and local ecosystems. How do you weave that into your lesson plan? I know you're talking about the mechanics of fly fishing, but how do you weave that conservation and ecosystems? And how does that impact the kids? How are you seeing them use that?
Tim Cammisa:
Yeah. For sure. I mean, one of the first questions that the students will ask me whenever they hear about the trip is, "Can we keep the fish?" And in my mind, I look at this club as an approach towards what we call catch and release fishing, where the students will catch a fish and we'll net it. And the entire time, even if we're going to take a picture, depending on the temperature and a couple other factors, we'll keep that fish in the water in the net the entire time. So I'll immediately unhook the fish. I'll hold the net in the water, make sure the student's comfortable in a good spot to kind of set up a nice picture. And then once things are ready, then I'll hold onto the fish. We'll get a quick picture and we'll put it back in the water. I wouldn't call it a hero shot or anything like that, but the whole, that entire fish out of the water, I don't think there's a pun there too much.
But that entire moment's going to take no more than five seconds, three seconds. And that's a really critical piece of this because I want those students to recognize that that fish they just caught, someone could have caught that fish two weeks ago and now someone can catch it two days from now. And that to me really starts to drive things home because I reflect on my own experiences whenever I was younger and thinking like if we caught fish, we killed the fish. And luckily my father didn't have that mentality completely. But there were so many times where I was proud to catch a rainbow trout and we killed it and we brought it home and I put it in the freezer and then it got freezer burned and we threw it away and we did the same thing year after year. And that's just one small piece that I can teach these students, this idea that once you release a fish and you do it properly, it's going to pay back and it's going to pay forward for so many more people over who knows what amount of time.
Jeff Ney:
Teaching kids how to do fly fishing. I mean, spin casting is one thing. Fly fishing, that takes a lot of effort. What keeps you motivated to come back year after year after doing this club for a decade and knowing these kids are going to get themselves all tangled up and tripped up in their fly fishing, but you keep coming back? What keeps you motivated?
Tim Cammisa:
I mean, to say that I'm hooked is an understatement. I had to throw that in there.
Jeff Ney:
Absolutely.
Tim Cammisa:
He knew that was happening. No, I mean, I guess whenever... Let me dial back one more step. I'm lucky. I live in my district where I teach to. So this is my home district and I'm pretty active in the community. So I run into a lot of former students. And now that I've been holding down this club for around a decade, I start to see those students. And I realize that many of them have stuck with fishing. Some of them fly fishing, some of them traditional fishing. And it's even made kind of a stronger connection whenever you see a student that you had. And whenever you see a former student, it's great to say like, "Hi, how's it going? What's going on? Are you in high school? Are you going to college?"
But now they're like, "Hey, you're not going to believe this, Mr. Cammisa. I caught this rainbow trout. I use that fly that I learned how to tie in our club five years ago." So when you get those stories and you really start to see how they connect back to teaching, number one, that's a huge driver of everything. But also, you kind of look at this from... Here I am talking with PSEA. Whenever we shared this story, so many of my fellow PSEA members reached out and they wanted to learn how they could start a club like this in their own home district. And then I'll take it one step further. I mean, I look at my administration. The Seneca Valley Administration supports this club. We have a Fly Fishing Club now that started on the secondary campus or fishing club. I shouldn't say fly fishing.
But to know that they want to grow this. I mean, just the other day I had to have a union meeting with the assistant superintendent about... It was a good topic. We had a great conversation. But then as she was leaving my classroom, she's like, "Hey, Tim, before we go, I just want to tell you, my son is a die hard fisherman." And she's like, "I love that you're doing this club and we got to figure out ways to get more kids excited and learning about fishing." Just to know even here's my assistant superintendent that wants to expand the club. And I was like, "That's amazing" in my mind.
Aaron Chapin:
Yeah. So look, we have educators, maybe fly fishing is not their thing, but they've got other interests and hobbies. What advice would you give to another educator who wants to start a club based upon their own personal interests or hobbies?
Tim Cammisa:
I mean, I think you heard it in the last thing that I said, reach out to your administrator. I mean, you have to have those conversations and just to see if there is an opportunity for it to happen either in school or after school. But I think if you have that connection with your administration and they're on board with it, it's going to just get everything just that much quicker whenever you're talking about getting dialed in. The other thing that I kind of lucked into a number of years ago, there was a parent who worked for PPG Paints and she still does. And she had this connection with PPG. She was an employee, but she also had an opportunity to put in for two grants a year for some type of conservation initiative, and the Fly Fishing Club connected. So she asked me if I wanted to put in for one of these grants and I said, "I would love to." And I followed the procedure with my school district, filled out the paperwork with PPG and earned that grant.
And every year I've received a grant for around $1,000 from PPG Paint. So a quick shout out to them, which helps to fund the club. So that's the other side of things. It's great if you got a club, you're interested, you're excited, but you also have to think about the funding side of things. So that would be something else that you have to really keep in consideration.
Aaron Chapin:
Good to know.
Jeff Ney:
Yeah. Fishing's not cheap.
Aaron Chapin:
No. Rachael, time for the bonus question.
Rachael West:
Excellent.
Aaron Chapin:
Perfect.
Rachael West:
All right. So we have one final question for you, Tim. Can you tell us your wildest fishing story? It doesn't have to be one that got away, unless that's the wildest story you have, in which case bring it on. We want to hear it.
Tim Cammisa:
I don't want to make it too wild. I mean, this is a Duty Free Lunch podcast, if I remember correctly. Let me connect it back to the fishing club. A couple years ago, there were around 10 students that came on a fishing trip with me. And one of them was that kiddo that just... When he was in school, he was the troublemaker. He was the one that just drove you crazy. And I saw his name on my club. I'm like, "Oh, this is just my luck. So-and-so's in my club. This is going to be just a complete pain." And he was not. He was super engaged. He loved fishing. But even the day before the club in class, he was just driving me crazy. And I'm like, "This kid," I'm like, "I am taking him fishing tomorrow. Can he not just give me a break?" So fast-forward, we're fishing, we're having a wonderful day, and he caught a couple fish.
After he caught these fish, he was like, "Hey, Mr. Cammisa, do you mind if I borrow the net and just go around and catch frogs and stuff?" And I'm like, "Absolutely. Go at it." That's part of the fun. These kiddos just want to get outside and have fun. So here's this kid, he's crawling around the lake and he's catching frogs. He's putting them in the net. And then all of a sudden he catches a snake. And then he catches another and he catches six snakes in this net.
Jeff Ney:
Oh geez.
Tim Cammisa:
And I'm looking at him, and I didn't realize what was going on yet. All the students are starting to go around him and they start yelling my name. They're like, "Mr. Cammisa, Mr. Cammisa, you're not going to believe this. So-and-so, he has a net full of snakes." I'm like, "There's no way." These are, I don't want to say suburban kiddos, but these are suburban kiddos that I would never see in a million years carrying a net full of snakes.
So I kind of leave the deck. I was helping this one student cast and I walk over. And sure enough, there's this kiddo and he's pulling snakes out of his net one at a time. He's lifting them out. And every time the kids are all going like, "Ooh, ooh." And I'm watching it and they're loving it. So I take a picture of it. And then I think to myself, "This kid just drove me crazy yesterday. I cannot wait to just pull his chain on this last one." So as he pulls it out, I yell at the top of my lungs, "It's a poisonous rattlesnake. Get back." And this kid starts shrieking like, I don't want to say like a little girl, but that's pretty much what he sounded like. He's going crazy. Snakes are flying all over the place. All the kids are just... They're running.
This kid nearly fell backwards into the lake before I caught him and said, "I was just kidding. That was just the one." So it was nice that I was able to kind of get a little bit of payback on him that day.
Jeff Ney:
That sounds like something you'd do, Aaron.
Aaron Chapin:
No, not at all.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, come on.
Aaron Chapin:
I treated my students with utmost respect and love.
Rachael West:
Straight talk. Straight talk.
Aaron Chapin:
It's true.
Jeff Ney:
If I just didn't know any better.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right. I was nominated for humanitarian by one of my middle school students.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, were you? You know what? I cannot wait for your partner teacher to chime in on this podcast.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, if only she listened to the podcast. This is a great story. I know, Jeff, you were looking forward to this all day.
Jeff Ney:
I was.
Aaron Chapin:
And it didn't fail us. This is a great example of what our public schools offer our students day after day, year after year.
Rachael West:
Absolutely.
Aaron Chapin:
Tim, we got to thank you for what you do for our kids. It means the world to us. And I know it means a lot obviously to the kids and their families. So thank you very much, Tim.
Tim Cammisa:
Well, thank you so much, Rachael, Jeff and Aaron. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. And thanks for everything you guys are doing for public education and for us behind the scenes.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, thank you.
Tim Cammisa:
We truly do appreciate it.
Aaron Chapin:
You got it, man. And as you can tell everybody, that's it for our time today. Our guest today has been Tim Cammisa. Tim, again, thank you for joining us. And I know you can't wait to be out there once the weather warms up and we're in spring. Spring, it's going to be great.
Rachael West:
Can't wait.
Aaron Chapin:
You're going to be out there all the time?
Tim Cammisa:
As much as I can get. Yeah. I cannot wait. And no, I guess with that said, what do I say? Ice to meet you?
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, gosh. Nice job, Tim. Nice job.
Jeff Ney:
Nice. Like it.
Aaron Chapin:
Hey, listeners, thanks for tuning in. Love all the puns and jokes today? Well, you should send us an email at podcast@psea.org. Maybe we'll read off the best ones in the next episode.
Rachael West:
Sounds like a great idea.
Aaron Chapin:
Maybe we're going to make Rachael read all the good ones.
Rachael West:
Read all the puns?
Aaron Chapin:
Uh-huh.
Rachael West:
All right.
Aaron Chapin:
I'm Aaron Chapin.
Jeff Ney:
I'm Jeff Ney.
Rachael West:
And I'm Rachael West.
Aaron Chapin:
And you have been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover:
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more. And don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.