Revere teacher tops in her class

REVERE – They call her “the comma Nazi” but Nancy Barile’s unflinching attention to sentence structure has earned her affection from her students; admiration from her colleagues and national recognition.In choosing Barile as one of 20 accomplished teachers, USA Today in October cited her selection to the National Commission on Writing and noted her success in attracting Revere High School students of different nationalities to the school culture club.That recognition prompted the City Council to award Barile a certificate of merit. Oprah Winfrey’s people called to see if she was interested in helping Winfrey expand her South African educational initiative.She declined the offer and set aside the $2,500 she received as part of USA Today’s recognition to pay for publication of Crossroads, the high school literary magazine she resurrected from dormancy.”It’s really important to help kids connect with literature,” she said.The Philadelphia native chucked a low-level job in a law firm to pursue her love of teaching. She earned a teaching degree and pursued her master’s at Emmanuel College and decided to look for a job in Revere because of the city’s proximity to public transportation.That was 14 years ago. Today, she teaches Advanced Placement English, Introduction to Education and a Mysteries class to sophomores and seniors like Amanda Todisco.Todisco and her peers cringe when Barile tears into their writing. But they get their revenge when she posts her own work on the classroom bulletin board and lets them take a whack at it.”She is very laid back. We can discuss what we read as it relates to our lives,” Todisco said.She credits long-time local educator Carol Tye with helping her expand her interest in teaching and encouraging her to dare to start new programs.When she learned in October that Ivy League schools were sending representatives to a college-for-day program at Babson, she called the school and arranged to have 20 students attend the event. They met professors and received invitations to sit in on classes at Harvard.Barile hounds struggling students to succeed inside and outside of Revere High. She visits them at home and speaks with their parents and doesn’t let up on the pressure until she sees their grades climb.”I walk everywhere. If I see a parent, I’ll ask what’s going on. The kids love it.”