Moceri: My Years Here Have Been the Best

Two longtime principals in the Cinnaminson School District recently announced their plans to at the end of this school year. Cinnaminson Patch spoke with both Gay Moceri, principal at the middle school, and Eugene Porco, principal at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School.

Gay Moceri came to Cinnaminson 13 years ago because she missed working with students. She was a department supervisor, overseeing art, music, business, industrial arts and home economics in the Audubon school district.

“I missed the interaction,” Moceri said.

So, after 16 years of teaching English and being a supervisor, she came to Cinnaminson in 1998 and is finishing her career here in June.

“I can honestly tell you, I’ve been in the business for 40 years,” Moceri said, “and the 13 years here have been the best.”

Moceri began as an assistant principal at the for two years before serving two years in the same position at the . She went back to the middle school to serve as principal and has been there for nine years.

“It’s the whole spirit of the community,” Moceri said of why she likes it in Cinnaminson. “We have a community that is very willing to be involved.”

And the community she’s fostered right here in the district is one of the things she’s most proud of as an administrator.

“We worked very hard to create a culture … where students don’t just see this as a place to take tests and listen to teachers talk, it’s also a place to have fun,” Moceri said.

Activities that appeal to students’ needs, including service-learning projects, are a big part of her contribution, she said. Students give back to the community through donations and other special fundraisers.

The Unity Day program, an effort to teach students about different cultures, is now a monthlong event instead of a one-day celebration. Students have also collecting coins and even coupons to send to military families overseas.

“We’re trying to teach [students] that it’s not just about learning, reading, writing and math,” Moceri said. “There’s a bigger world out there that we’re all a part of and we need to help each other.”

Moceri has taught every grade from seventh to 12th. But working in the middle school has been especially interesting, she said.

“It’s unpredictable,” she said. “The best part is, they come here from fifth grade, from the elementary environment—they are babies. But, they leave here as young men and young women. There are so many changes that happen in that three-year period. We have that opportunity to see so much growth and development.”

Moceri said she could see herself returning to education in some aspect post-retirement but for the first six months—at least—she’s doing, well, nothing.

“I want to give myself the freedom of, ‘I’m going to get up today and do nothing.’ I’ve been in school for 56 years, I’d like to have no schedule,” she said.

There’s a quilt she needs to finish, Moceri said, and she’d like to preserve and digitize photography slides she has that her father took.

She’d also love to buy a house in New Hampshire to be with family.

“I’m just so grateful to have had the experience to work here and end my career here,” she said. “I count myself very lucky to be in such an amazing school district. There are so many wonderful programs for kids, so many staff members who care about them and what them to succeed.”