High School Social Studies Teacher and Radio Personality George Savarese

Often talented educators make a name for themselves in fields outside of education. This is certainly true of George Savarese, a high school social studies teacher who has also earned recognition as a radio personality and sportscaster.

In 1988, George earned his bachelor's degree in history, political science, and English from Duquesne University, a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh. He earned a master's degree in history in 1991 and a master's in education in 1996, also at Duquesne. He accepted his first teaching position at Pennsylvania Governor's School for International Studies. In 1997, he has been employed as a social studies teacher in the public school system at Mt. Lebanon High School. He also worked for ten years as the educational director of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, an organization which works to foster informed, independent, and critical thinking about global issues that affect the nation and Western Pennsylvania.

For many years George has served Mt. Lebanon as the faculty advisor for the school's National Forensic League team. Under his leadership, George's team advanced to the 2006 State Championship. Throughout his tenure as director of the speech and debate program, he has coached thirteen Mt. Lebanon students to state championships. Five of his students were National Finalists at NFL Nationals, and four of them were named runners-up in the National Championships in their events. For this work, George has been recognized with the Diamond Key Coach Recognition Award from the National Forensic League. In addition, George has served as one of the coaches of his school's Model United Nations team, along with fellow history teacher Peter DiNardo. Under the leadership of these two talented educators, the school's MUN team has consistently been considered among the premier programs in the country.

For his achievements in the classroom, George has been named a Teacher of Excellence by the Teacher Excellence Center, and he was inducted into the Cum Laude Society. He was also chosen as one of ten Pennsylvania teachers to travel to European Union and NATO headquarters in Brussels as part of a EU program in 2004. He was also selected the winner of the Get Involved! Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award in 2012. The selection committee chose George for this honor because of his dedication to the community and his passion for making a positive difference in the region.

But the talented teacher has earned recognition in other fields as well. He has served as the host of the Global Press Conference on the World Affairs Council on KQV Radio, and he has also worked for AP Radio and National Public Radio. He currently covers Pittsburgh sports on an intermittent basis for Fox Sports Radio, CBS Radio, and the NFL Radio Network on Sirius XM Radio. Throughout his career, he has interviewed numerous famous sports personalities such as Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Ron Francis, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripkin, Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Troy Polamalu, Heath Miller, and Sidney Crosby.

Chalkboard champion George Savarese is certainly an impressive individual, as a educator, radio personality, and sportscaster.