Faces of the Valley: Beloved Deer Lakes teaching couple to say goodbye after long, enriching careers

Craig Taliani gets a bit emotional when thinking about what the Deer Lakes School District has meant to him and his family.

He thinks about meeting his now-wife, Lisa, in a high school teachers lounge in 1991 while he was a day-to-day substitute and she was in her first year of teaching.

He recalls a 15-season successful career coaching varsity softball for the Lancers, highlighted by coaching his two daughters, Maria and Katrina.

And 2016 was a special year, having his family all under one roof at the high school.

Those memories make Lisa and Craig’s retirement from the district — each capping a nearly 35-year career in public education — at the end of this school year that much more bittersweet.

“All of our memories surround Deer Lakes,” Lisa said.

“I don’t think I’ll ever not be able to say, ‘I’m a teacher at Deer Lakes,’ because I’m proud of it.”

Their careers

Craig graduated from Deer Lakes in 1984 and, as a student, was influenced by his teachers to pursue a career in education.

“They were old-school but good teachers,” said Craig, 58. “They set a good example in the classroom.”

Teaching also was a way to use history, an interest of his, as a career path.

Lisa, 57, graduated from Butler Area High School and “had no idea where West Deer was.” Her original contract with Deer Lakes was for one year, but she says she was “fortunate enough to stay here.”

Lisa is an English teacher and the high school gifted support teacher.

Lisa and Craig met in 1991.

They had lunch together, and she remembers asking where Craig lived. She remembers him telling her, “a 9-iron away.”

They started dating and eventually married on Aug. 5, 1995.

“It’s been a great experience,” Lisa said. “I think we’re proud Lancers.”

Craig took a full-time history teaching job at Grove City Area High School, where he stayed for a decade. When a job became available at Deer Lakes in 2003, Craig said applying for the position was a “no-brainer.”

“When a job opened up, I had to come back,” he said.

The decision to retire came from a conversation in a swimming pool on Labor Day, Lisa said.

“We’re not running out of here,” she said. “We’re leaving when things are good. … We’re happy and healthy. We’ve had a good time with the kids. It’s time to go.”

Their lives

It’s been difficult to tell when the school day ends and the family’s personal life begins, Lisa said.

The Talianis live a quarter-mile away from Deer Lakes High School in West Deer.

Their older daughter, Maria, graduated from Deer Lakes in 2016 and played college softball at Gannon University. She now lives in Nashville.

Katrina graduated from Deer Lakes in 2019 and recently earned a nursing degree from Duquesne University.

“We really loved having our daughters here,” Lisa said. “Everybody had that shared experience. We got to see them in ways that most parents don’t see.”

Both daughters played Lancers softball under Craig’s leadership. In 2016, all four Talianis were under the same roof at the high school.

“It was pretty special to have everyone together at the building,” Craig said.

During Craig’s tenure, he amassed a 204-78 record with two WPIAL titles, three WPIAL runner-ups and a state tournament runner-up.

“There were a lot of good memories from those years,” Lisa said.

Working together enables Lisa and Craig to know what each other is going through, Craig said. Asked whether there were any challenges of working together, the couple couldn’t come up with any.

They also give each other space during the school day.

Their classrooms are two short hallways away — at one time, they were side-by-side — and Lisa jokes she can hear when Craig sneezes from his classroom.

They also don’t travel to school together. Lisa likes to get to school a little earlier than Craig.

The couple working together has never been an issue for their co-workers or students.

“It’s enjoyable to see that people like your spouse. When people like your spouse, it feels good,” Lisa said.

Craig believes the couple is the first in Deer Lakes’ history to have taught and retired together. Aside from a few years in the late 1980s or early ‘90s, their extended family has been involved with the school district, either as students or employees.

Ryan Aleski, principal of the high school, said during his nine-year career with the district, Lisa and Craig have been the most passionate Deer Lakes supporters.

“Their unique ability to connect with all students sets them apart,” Aleski said. “They are frequently seen at various school events, whether it’s softball, basketball, musicals or choir concerts. Their dedication and love for the community and district are truly irreplaceable.”

Proud Lancers

The school district has been good to the Talianis, Lisa said, and it’s a challenge to pinpoint a certain memory from their careers that will stick with them.

Lisa recalled early in her career where the school would host an assembly benefiting Children’s Hospital the day before winter break.

Now, she said, some students tend to be absent from school the day before the long break. But back then, the day was popular among both students and staff due to the fun activities and games planned. At its end, the school would present a check to Children’s Hospital representatives.

“What other job can you stop in the middle of your work day and go to an assembly?” she said. “It’s a fun thing.”

Craig — who prefaced the memory by joking he could discuss it now — remembered a time where he was teaching early American history.

He had friends who were war reenactors, and they offered to visit the school one day, setting up a cannon outside the school.

The principal at the time asked Craig, “You’re not actually firing a mortar, are you?” And, at the time, Craig thought that they would not.

However, the reenactors convinced him they could fire it and, boasting their precision, laid a hula hoop on the field and promised it would land within the ring.

“I’m thinking, I’m never going to get a chance to see that again,” Craig said

The reenactors fired and, sure enough, it landed perfectly in the hoop.

“The principal came out and said, ‘You had to do it, didn’t you?’ ” Lisa said.

Teaching has become meshed into their personalities, Craig said. He did the math: Between himself and Lisa, that totals roughly 70 years’ worth of teaching or subbing. Average about 150 students a year, that’s several thousand students taught over their careers. Then, add in about 20 assignments each year — that’s a slew of graded papers.

“Lisa and Craig have made such an impact with the students they have taught and the staff members they have worked beside,” said Tina Pascucci, high school counselor. “They both exemplify their love of the Deer Lakes community through their support of sporting events, academic programs and student activities.

“There aren’t two people more deserving of relaxing, while drinking a cup of coffee on their porch as they watch the school buses go by. They will be greatly missed, but we know we will see them and their Lancer spirit at events.

Ready for anything — including retirement

Much in public education has changed as their careers have progressed, Lisa said, with one major development being advancements in technology.

When they first started teaching, much of the paperwork was just that — on paper. Now, almost everything is on an electronic device.

The pandemic was a separate sort of challenge, Craig noted.

“That really opened a Pandora’s box to students and technology, and I think that shed a light on the fact that you need teachers in a classroom in front of students.”

Added Lisa: “Those covid years, the students helped us through that — the ones who were engaged and did their work, the ones who turned their cameras on during a Zoom class. It was a rough time, but it was a good memory.”

The administration was patient and guided the school district through it, she said.

“They rose to the occasion,” Craig said. “They kept things from collapsing.”

Another challenge came early in Lisa’s career, when teachers authorized a strike in the early 1990s. She remembers coming home with a bus full of students from a volleyball game and the doors to the school were locked.

But Deer Lakes was always able to weather whatever storms came its way, they said. While the perception of teachers and public education has wavered over the years, Lisa said her view of the profession has never faltered.

Both Talianis said they will miss the relationships formed with faculty and students, with Craig throwing a special nod to the cafeteria employees. The staff at the high school is capable of accomplishing anything, he said.

“You have a microcosm of the world, right here at the high school,” he said.

In retirement, the couple looks forward to traveling — a trip to Normandy is planned next spring — and visiting other places, too, including Yellowstone National Park, Hawaii and Italy.

Craig will enjoy the additional time to hunt and fish.

“I’d like to see baseball in October, even if it’s not the Pirates,” Lisa said. “I’’ll buy a shirt for whichever team it is.”