Meet the Crew Ms. Piansay

What is your name? Marian Piansay

What grade/subject are you teaching this year? Second Grade

Why did you choose to come to W T Sampson? I had been teaching in California for 8 years before coming to WT Sampson. I wanted a new challenge in my career, and the stars aligned for me to end up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba!

Tell a little about your family. I am an only child, with two amazing parents who are both from the Philippines. They met and married in San Francisco, which is my place of birth! I have aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family scattered throughout the states (California, South Carolina, Kentucky), as well as different regions of the Philippines!

Please share your hobbies or interest. I LOVE to cook and bake. I brought my standing mixer with me to Cuba, so I was excited to experiment with new recipes! Some of my favorite OVEN-BAKED recipes to prepare include chocolate chip banana bread, pumpkin bread, three-layer brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, s'mores brownies, and blueberry coffee cake! Some of my favorite ENTREEs to prepare are: ANYTHING pasta, Asian and Filipino dishes, and new ways to prepare chicken :)

What is your best memory of elementary school? My favorite memory of elementary school was a kindergarten field trip to FAO Schwarz in San Francisco. My mom was a chaperone, and I remember the BEST part of this field trip was getting in line to dance/walk over the oversized keyboard keys (which played music as we stepped over them). While FAO Schwarz is no longer in San Francisco, I visited the NYC location in 2019 and relived my 5-year-old self!

What is your best memory of middle or high school? In middle school, I won second place in the school-wide spelling bee in the 7th grade! As a reward, my dad took me out to watch a movie. I chose to watch "Maid in Manhattan", much to his dismay LOL. 

To this day, I am always mindful of spelling as a writer, and as a teacher. There are so many nuances to the English language, both in speech and in writing. It's an important skill in all fields!

Please share your favorite quote. "It's often the places we didn't plan to go, and the people we didn't know we needed to meet, that end up changing our lives in the most beautiful ways." - Topher Kearby