Palmieri is a family man with a need for speed.
Photo by Mia Nogueira
To most Spartans Michael Palmieri is known as the fabulous play director for Thomas Jefferson High School and a great English teacher. Palmieri says he enjoys teaching at TJ and loves teenagers because he truly feels he can connect to them. Palmieri has great hobbies, loves being with his family, and believes he has a great head on his shoulders because of his religion.
Palmieri was born in New Haven, Connecticut and was raised on the east coast. He attended a prep school, which he thought was fabulous for learning, but says he didn’t really fit in because he was a rebel. “Throughout my childhood, mostly seventh to 12th grade, I was a train wreck,” said Palmieri. “The only success I can think of when thinking of my childhood was my success on the wrestling team.”
Although Palmieri may have been a rebel, he did find an outlet by participating in sports; football being his favorite. “I played soccer, football, I wrestled, and did track. It was pretty cool and since our school was so little I was on the varsity teams. I really liked football best out of all the sports. I was the running back, corner, and I returned kicks. Believe it or not I wasn’t even interested in theatre then,” said Palmieri. “However, being kind of a disaster and getting into bad things, I think has made me a better teacher. I can better understand the students and what they’re going through. I can think of my place in the front of the classroom and also have an idea of how the kids are feeling in their desks,” said Palmieri.
After Palmieri’s middle school and high school years he went on to Boston College in 1969. “It was a wonderful place to attend. Here is where I continued my love for English and got interested in photojournalism, which I spent three years on. I took a mixed media class that dealt with film, photojournalism, and video my freshman year. Video then was in its infancy and no one really knew about it, so that was cool. I got my Bachelor’s in English there. Also at college I became a life -long Red Sox fan and left with life-long friendships,” said Palmieri who, after college, went on to do many jobs and was able to find his calling in Denver, Colorado.
Palmieri came to Colorado after his parents passed, and he says he felt no need to be on the east coast. Having a sister in Colorado, Palmieri loaded up his car and came to Denver to see what it could offer him. Here is where he got a job at BMW, and after went on to teaching a Sunday school class where Palmieri decided that he truly loved teaching kids and that was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He went back to school at DU where he got his teacher certification in 1990. He landed a job at Martin Luther King Middle School where he taught for 11 years. Then he went to Manual High School and became the theatre director in 2004, and that is when he found his love for the stage.
Palmieri was teaching when Manual closed, so the high school decided to host a fair of all the other high schools for students and teachers. “Every school sent one counselor or faculty member, but TJ’s whole administrative team came, and it really showed dedication. Coach [Kyler] Jackson was actually the one that gave me that heads up about the opening for a drama teacher. I then talked to TJ to see if I was a good fit for them, and if they were a good fit for me. I then was hired and it has been a great ride ever since,”
Another subject that Palmieri has an interest in is sports cars. “Sports cars have been a life-long hobby for me,” said Palmieri. “I learned how to read from car magazines and then when I was older I got a 1966 MG. After that I became the service manager at Ralph Schomp BMW where I was able to drive BMW’s around race tracks,” he said. “I loved to drive fast, so this was perfect.”
When with Palmieri, one better keep a suitcase handy because this guy is a traveling machine. “I love to travel. I have been to Jamaica, Mexico, Hawaii, Canada, and Italy. Italy was by far my favorite place to visit,” said Paliemri. “I love Italy so much because I am Italian myself. When I am there I just feel that I am back home. The people, food, and everything are just wonderful.”
Going back to his roots has also inspired Palmieri to cook. “My wife usually does the cooking, but lately I am helping her out. I have also created some new pasta dishes myself. One is shrimp pasta and another tomato pasta. I am working on other recipes right now but they all mainly are pasta dishes,” said Palmieri
When not traveling, Palmieri can be found indulging in a nice novel or kicking his feet up and watching a film. “I am an avid reader and like watching movies; however, I watch zero TV,” said Palmieri. “I have a top ten list of favorite books but if I had to choose one to take with me on a desert island it would have to be Dune by Frank Herbert. My favorite movie is Indian Jones and the Last Crusade,”
During the play production season it is very hard for Palmieri to spend time with his family. He has two kids, Mikey 26 and Kristen 28, and a wife of thirty years now, Freda. Don’t forget his two cats either; Palmieri is a cat lover and loves having them in his family. “I try to make up for the time lost when I am doing all the plays. I love spending time with my family, and we have a new addition. She is my granddaughter and her name is Kamryn Krystyn and she is seven months old,” said Palmieri. “It’s really great now because my wife does the costumes for the plays so we can also spend time together.” Palmieri also has a sister, who sadly passed away thirteen years ago. “She was ten years older than me, but we had the best conversations. She was a judge so it was always interesting because I worked with kids and she did also when they were in trouble,” said Palmieri.
“Christ is also a great influence in my life,” says Palmieri. He gets many complements on his plays, but he believes it wouldn’t be possible without help from “the guy up there.” He says he was 29 when he found Christ and says that it helped him kind of “back track and start anew” from his childhood. “Christ is allowing me to live the dream I am living today,” Palmieri says.
Spartans can catch Palmieri in action at this spring’s play production of Phantom of the Opera on March 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th at 7 p.m. He says he is really excited for this production because, “…we have an amazing group of kids this year that work harder than ever before.” This play will most likely be very successful and will be able to go on Palmieri’s list of favorite musicals, which include of GodSpell, Chicago, and RENT.
