While roaming the halls of THS, you may hear whispers of Mr. Peter Toale’s name. Whether it’s people talking about the sports he coaches, like skiing or baseball, discussions of tests in his history classes, or his new baby, Mr. Toale’s name echoes in the halls. Recently, there has been a new reason for Mr. Toale’s name to be discussed, as he just took on the role of Student Officer (SO) Advisor.
When did you come to Tenafly, and how long have you been here?
I came to Tenafly 10 years ago.
Other than SO, what are you involved in at THS?
I coach skiing and baseball. I used to coach football. I’m in charge of graduation. I teach freshman history and senior history. And I’m pretty much involved in anything that Mrs. Toale is also involved in.
Why and when did you take on the role of SO advisor?
I took over the SO at the beginning of February of this year. I took it over because my wife, Mrs. Toale, is on maternity leave. Since she’s out, I wanted to make sure that things were still getting done and that they were done as she wanted. It’s a position she hopes to hold in future years as well, so we want to maintain some continuity. That way, when she comes back next year, she can just pick up where I left off.
What were your initial feelings on taking over this position from Mrs. Toale?
It was definitely a little bit overwhelming at first, just because I didn’t know exactly what needed to be done. But the former SO advisor, Mr. Hubbard, has been very helpful, organizing and showing me things he had done previously, like how to organize elections and pep rallies. I’ve also worked closely with Mr. Carollo in carrying out a lot of stuff with the SO. Mr. Peano, the vice principal, has also been helpful in getting information out to people, ensuring we have schedules for elections and other things.
Does this new position provide you with new, enjoyable opportunities? Or is it more of a time-consuming burden?
I’d say it’s both. I have obviously had some new opportunities. I’m meeting a lot of students that I didn’t previously know, because before SO, I only really knew the kids in my classes or on my sports teams. So, it’s been good to meet new students. Running SO also gives me an understanding of how the SO works and how things operate. One major thing I learned about and now handle is the process for clubs to get approved. It’s good to see students trying to start new clubs or being active in existing ones. On the other hand, running SO is time-consuming. It involves handling elections, meeting with SO officers and representatives, and planning events like pep rallies, which takes a lot of time. On top of that, I have to ensure everything goes as planned and the events run smoothly.
What has been your favorite part of this position?
Probably just dealing with some students and getting to meet people I don’t usually see, because they’re not in my class or they’re not part of another activity I’m involved in. Tenafly has a lot of great students, so it’s been really awesome to meet more of them and see what they can accomplish. I hope that continues.
What has been your least favorite part?
My least favorite part is probably the amount of planning and preparation that goes into many things we do. We try to foresee problems before they actually happen, whether it’s a different schedule that we need for a pep rally, the order that teams are gonna come out with in during a pep rally, or altering or amending rules from the elections from previous years to to make sure the election is as fair as possible for students. Trying to do all that ahead of time, before the material actually reaches the students, is a lot of work. But, it is necessary as it eliminates questions and headaches for students, staff, and administration.
What changes, if any, have you made since taking over this position?
I’ve made very few changes. Again, I’m trying to just continue on with what Mrs. Toale had previously done, so there hasn’t been much change. We have a couple of ideas and things that we’d like to move forward with in the future. One is the coffee house. We had the coffee house this year for the first time in a while, and it was pretty successful, so we are hoping to do it again in the future. Also, this year we did pep rallies for each sports season, which was different. Now we’re discussing whether we continue with the multiple pep rallies and, if so, how many. Those are kind of the talks to see how things work this year, and then hopefully we can alter them for future years to make it as enjoyable as possible for everybody.
How do you plan on organizing future events with the SO officers?
So the way it usually happens is we meet with the SO officers and talk about what students might be interested in. For example, when we discussed the coffee house, we had to discuss the basics, like whether we could get people to perform. Then we discuss what needs to be done to make the event happen. Then, I would speak to the teachers and administration to work out the logistics, and I would have the officers send out an interest form. And the process is pretty much the same for all events. So, if we’re doing a pep rally, it’s sort of the same thing. I’ll deal with the coaches and administration while the SO officers and reps deal with specific sports teams to make sure everybody is aware of what’s going on. We come together as a small group, and then the student officers spread the word to the student body as a whole.
Are there any major conflicts you had to resolve in the student council? And if so, what was it, and how did you resolve it?
No, no major conflicts yet. However, there are always minor conflicts in terms of clubs. Tenafly has so many clubs that when people want to start a new one, there’s a high chance it’s too similar to an already existing club, so we have to deny the new club. But we always give reasoning if we have to deny a club, and so far, people have been accepting of our reasoning. So it’s been minor things, nothing major.
How is coaching sports similar to or different from being the SO Advisor?
It’s very similar because it’s basically all just planning. And it’s working with students to get some sort of desired outcome. I wouldn’t say SO is necessarily harder, but maybe a little harder in the sense that the people I work with on SO don’t see every single day, like I would if they were on my sports teams. Trying to coordinate, gather information, follow up on tasks, and ensure that students are doing what needs to be done while not seeing people in person makes it slightly more difficult. But I wouldn’t say it’s much more difficult than coaching.
To wrap things up, what do you like most about Tenafly?
What do I like most? Well, I could say what I like the least, which is one of my colleagues (pointing to Mr. Hegarty, who was sitting next to him), whom I unfortunately have to sit in a room with and eat lunch with all the time. I’m just kidding, what I like the most is the students, who I think are great. They’re involved in a lot of different things, sometimes too many things, which makes things complicated. But ultimately, they want to be involved, which is good because there are other places where kids don’t want to do anything. However, you don’t have that here. You have people who really care about this place, care about what happens, whether it’s their classes or the school as a whole. And the same could be said for the administration. They are people who care about what goes on here and the experience that students have, so that’s been enjoyable.
