Ms. Anna Alioto, a teacher at The High, started teaching here full time in 2022. Since coming here, she has developed her classes, added a new elective, and cemented herself in the school community.

Ms. Alioto grew up in Bloomfield Township, about 25 minutes north of Detroit. Growing up, she went to Lahser High School, which has now merged with Andover High School to become Bloomfield Hills High School. “I was in a co-ed school.” On top of having boys in the school, it was also a public school. “It’s just, it’s different. I hesitate to say it’s better or worse because I think it kind of evens out.” Ms. Alioto has seen a few differences between the co-ed schools and UDJ, with the biggest difference being the type of conversations the boys have here. “You guys are really open to saying things that you probably would not say in mixed gender company.” She experienced a different level of socialization being in the co-ed school, learning to adapt when she came to The High. Since coming here, she has noticed that the work ethic has changed since she was in high school. “You guys are a lot more intelligent than I was at that age.” Ms. Alioto always tries to get the best out of her students, pushing for them to be the best they can be. Justin Mkrtumian, a current student in Ms. Alioto’s U.S. History class said that, “She believes in me”, and that she supports him and has taught him multiple schools for the classroom.

Ms. Alioto attended Marquette University, a small Jesuit college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During her time there, she explored many of her interests, with one peeking out above the others: anthropology. While studying anthropology, she was offered the opportunity to go on an archeological dig. While this trip was not digging up remains, she still found it fascinating. Milwaukee offered her many opportunities to explore the city’s history. “For a history nerd like me, there was a lot of history.” While she was there, Milwaukee had a program called Open Doors Milwaukee. This offered her an opportunity to see historical sites in the city that would usually be closed off or cost money for free. She was able to have opportunities to see exclusive historical hotels and other historical buildings. One of her favorites was the Forest Home Cemetery. “We got to go into the cremation room and see where they actually lower and raise the corpses and caskets This, which would usually be closed off due to it being underground, was open for anthropologists like her to explore and learn about the process of cremation.

After college, Alioto worked as a long-term sub. She filled in temporarily for teachers that were out for different issues, like maternity leave and illnesses. This allowed her to hone in on her skills as a teacher, learning how to control the classroom and connect with students on a deeper level. Emory Stone, a former student who still regularly checks in, said that Ms. Alioto “gets me excited, and it makes me keep going through the day.” Ms. Alioto took her skills that she learned as a student teacher and applies them to her to her students, creating a unique relationship that helps students grow. While teaching, she also worked in a restaurant.  While working at the restaurant, she said that she was able to learn how to “think quickly on my feet and adapt to certain circumstances as they move.” While she learned these skills, she also learned the value of hard work. She worked at the restaurant for most of her 20s, where she worked her way up from a busser to a server, making her way through multiple ranks. While she enjoyed the job and its lessons, the constant repetition became overwhelming. Eventually, she left the restaurant and substitute teaching and came to The University of Detroit Jesuit High.

Since coming to The High, she has made an impact on many of her students, like Justin and Emory. With this only being her third year, she earned a reputation as a great teacher and a supportive figure for students. Emory mentioned that he has “been in multiple positions where I was gonna make the wrong decisions, and she helped me make the right decisions.”  Ms. Alioto also supports the students that she doesn’t know as well. Justin, a cross-country runner, mentioned how “she congratulated me on my cross-country awards, and she talked to me a lot about.” Ms. Alioto has gone the extra mile for many students, becoming a teacher that many students feel they can come to for help. Whether it be schoolwork, college applications, or just personal issues, Ms. Alioto offers strong words of encouragement through her own personal experiences.

Ms. Alioto has created many goals for herself while she serves at the high. One of these goals was to create an anthropology class, which recently started this year. She plans to make this class more interactive as time goes on, hoping to eventually be able to take the class on their own dig. “I would love for us to have a piece of property where we can just learn how to excavate.” While this goal is a big one, she has confidence that one day she can make this happen. One of her personal goals is to set time for herself. While she offers lots of time to students, this often gets in the way of her own personal life. Her year’s goal is to set time for herself while also committing time to the success of her students. Ms. Alioto also mentioned how she is open to teaching other subjects, like English, but she does not want to leave the social studies department. She plans to further the growth of not only her subjects, like APUSH, U.S. history, and anthropology, but also the social studies department as a whole.

Her biggest inspiration as a teacher was her 10th grade history teacher, who taught her many valuable skills for her own classes. He showed her that not everything had to be the normal way. “I remember walking in and there was a huge picture of Karl Marx in the back of the room.” Karl Marx, the creator of communism, was often passed over and not taught in classes. Her teacher showed her that providing the context of different forms of government and economies helped her understand the class better. While he had some techniques that she didn’t like, and she didn’t always like him in the moment, she learned many of the skills that she uses today from him. She takes inspiration from his class to make her class more interesting and engaging. “We do lectures in the class, but on top of lectures we do worksheets, there’s not heaps of homework poured on me”, remarked Justin after he was asked about her teaching style.

Ms. Alioto has certainly gained a positive position in the school and is quickly becoming a teacher that students desire to have. She has already brought a new elective and plans to expand that as well as her current classes. With a few years under her belt and no plans of leaving, many students and teachers are eager to see what she will do in her time here.