WILDWOOD CREST – Jim Colubiale checked off an item on his bucket list when he published “Teachable Moments,” a book about a teacher’s first day on the job, last October.
After 31 years of teaching English at Lower Cape May Regional High School and another seven years as an adjunct professor at Stockton University, he is no stranger to what happens during a teacher’s day.
“About 2007-2008, I knew I would not be teaching high school English much longer, so I kept a daily journal of everything that happened during the day,” said Colubiale, who retired in 2015. “I came across my journals and realized what I wrote was pretty dry; no one would want to read about lesson plans.
“So my book is sort of based on fact and my experiences. While there’s a lot of me in the story, it’s been fictionalized. One of my colleagues retired one day without telling us; he just left his room. So the teacher who took over had to do the cleanup.
“My book is about the journal being found by his replacement, and how that teacher tries to replace the legend.
“I figured out ways of breaking the story into readable chunks, so the plot is about the visitors that come in to help the new teacher. People like the principal, the superintendent, other teachers. My hope is that what happens to my fictional teacher is what happens whenever a new teacher starts their first day, that people want to help him.”
As an English teacher, Colubiale always had a love of writing, and over the years he has written about a 14-day trip with a group of friends to Italy that started as a journal of the trip, and a blog called “Breakfast With Dave.” That’s based on his regular get-togethers with a group of retired teachers.
“I wanted to expand my readership beyond just my friends,” he said, “and have others say yea or nay to my stories.”
His next book will also be about something he experienced: Cancer. First, Colubiale’s youngest son had cancer; he, fortunately, has been clear for 10 years. Two years after that diagnosis, his oldest son was diagnosed with cancer, and he also beat the disease. Then Colubiale was diagnosed with the disease, and he will be undergoing his first yearly scan shortly. If it’s clear, he will have been one-year clear.
“After undergoing the first round of treatment, I knew I would be in no position to copy-edit my book, so my wife got a friend who got a friend who did it,” Colubiale said, adding that he is grateful for her help.
“I am happy to be alive, but I am not the person I was before the cancer diagnosis. Writing this book is a reminder of who I was.”
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
