Interviewing Mr. DeBruzzi and Mr. Woodbury

Kendall Shostak, Staff Writer

   What duo could be more iconic than Mario and Luigi? Well, Mr.DeBruzzi and Mr. Woodbury, of course.

Mr. Woodbury teaches 10th grade Western Literature and 12th grade Creative Writing. At MPA, he enjoys how his students like to engage in discussion:: “We’re able to have these really big philosophical conversations around Frankenstein.”

Alongside this, “I’m really blown away by the quality of the creative writing the seniors are doing and just how talented they are.”

Since his husband graduated from MPA in 2004, he has attended various alumni events over the years: “I love the sense that, you know, people are still connected to this school years and years later.”

His favorite school activities of this year have been experiencing a school-wide homecoming celebration as the school he attended did not opt to put on too many festivities for it. One of the highpoints was seeing how the seniors got excited when the kindergartners voted for their hallway.

Outside of school, he has a dog named Mia who is, “ So ugly that she’s gone all the way back to cute “ and a 2 1⁄2 year old son named Odysseus who was named because an English teacher knows classic literature names. He also lived in Pasadena, California for five years where there is a large Persian community and so most of the restaurants did Persian food such as kabobs and falafel rice and it became a comfort food for him.

Closing with his own words, “I’m just really grateful to be here. I absolutely love MPA. Thank you.”

Mr. DeBruzzi was also driven towards a close-knit community: “I like seeing how the students are interacting with each other and the friendships that are unfolding.“ which describes how he has raised his family on various values, one being communication.

What else does he value?
He values knowing when to play and have fun. His favorite activity of the year has been: “I liked duo day where I got to dress up with my friend Mr. Woodbury, as Mario and Luigi.” He also likes using his ‘Pete the Cat’ to wave at the kindergartners everyday as it gets them to smile. He has added a feature of their current class reading book as the year has gone on.

   Something that also categorizes itself as fun, or at least if you like pizza is he’s always in the mood to eat stuffed crust pizza. He also has a dog named Cedric who is part pomeranian and part husky (there are a couple of cats also). He is always in the mood to listen to 80s music.

Finally, a third value, gratefulness. He enjoys being at and getting the chance to teach at MPA, “I love MPA.”

If you were looking for future activities Mr.DeBruzzi is doing: Make sure to hype him up for his participation in the annual lip-sync battle.