Before Ms. Carrafiello followed her dreams of becoming a choir teacher, she herself was also a student here at Hammonton High School. After graduating in 1997, she began her journey at the University of Delaware. There, she studied Music Education with a concentration in Voice.

Originally, Ms. Carrafiello hoped to teach elementary-level students the importance of music; But after graduating in 2002, anxious to get a teaching job, she accepted a position at Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point. While it was never her intention to teach high school students, she ended up loving it and now can’t possibly imagine teaching little kids.

The story of how she ended up back at Hammonton is a rather funny one. While studying in her high school years under the direction of Mr. Paul, former choir teacher at HHS, Ms. Carrafiello discovered her passion. She knew that one day she would be teaching exactly where he was. In fact, in her senior yearbook, she said “I will have Mr. Paul’s job here at Hammonton High School.” When it came time for him to retire, he gave her a call telling her to submit her resume, and she’s been teaching here and loving it ever since.

When asked what her lifelong dream is, she quickly responded with “What I’m doing right now. There is nothing else I could see myself doing.” Ms. Carrafiello’s passion for teaching music has given her students, including me, some of the most inspiring and memorable opportunities that they will treasure for all eternity.

In my opinion the top 3 best choir trips so far have been… “Seattle, because it was just a really cool trip, everything we did was awesome. New Orleans, because I just get sucked into the whole jazz culture, and Nashville, because how much music is involved in that city. I think my number one though would have to be New Orleans.”

My favorite musical I directed here at Hammonton was… “Thinking back, I have two favorites. I can’t just pick one. “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” was a super fantastic show. My second favorite was “Footloose,” without a doubt. I love all that 80’s music, it’s just a fun show.”

The most memorable moment of my career so far was… “Believe it or not, was at Teen Arts. It was my first time [directing the song] Tshotsholoza. There was just an electricity about that performance. I finished, and myself and the entire choir were like, ‘What just happened?’ There was something about that performance, I get chills now just talking about it.”

My Favorite Singer or Band is… “I have such an eclectic style, I like it all. It’s funny, because it changes. My pandora right now is set to Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra. My favorite band of all time, like rock band, is Bon Jovi. I’ve seen them 15 times live.”

My biggest pet peeve is… “Eye-rolling! Oh my gosh! That is my number one, ever, in a million years, my number one pet peeve!”

When I’m not at school, I like to… “I’ve recently discovered a love for cooking. In my summer life, I spend every moment of my time on the beach. In the winter I like to hibernate, I’ve also been doing some home improvement lately. I really like to do anything outdoors.”