Our middle school team of teachers work collaboratively to deliver rigorous instruction to all the students. Students are educated in the doctrines and beliefs of our Catholic Faith. Teachers begin and end class with a prayer on a daily basis.
Meet our Middle School teachers:
STEAM & Religion Teacher
Mr. James Hamilton
Originally from: Hamilton, New Jersey
Bones broken as a kid: 6
Education: Harvard University – AB in Linguistics with Related Field in Japanese Linguistics
Average Number of Books read each year for the last 3 years: 112
Teaching at Saint Leo the Great: 2019 – present
Positions held: Substitute Teacher, Middle School Science Proctor, After School Care, STEAM Teacher, and Middle School Religion Teacher
Favorite Saint: St. Paul Miki
Mr. Hamilton is excited to continue to mold young minds at Saint Leo the Great Catholic School. He has held a variety of positions but is excited to be teaching 7th and 8th Grade Religion and 5th through 8th Grade STEAM classes. Getting to teach about the saints, the story of salvation history in the Bible, and how to live out one’s faith in today’s world is his dream come true! And giving kids the opportunity to exercise their imaginations, coding skills, and building ability is icing on the cake. While he likes to have fun in his class, he also understands that learning about the Catholic faith and striving to become a saint is serious business.
The driving Bible verse for him is “This is eternal life, that they know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” – John 17:3. At the end of the day, Mr. Hamilton just wants everyone to know Jesus and to have eternal life. But, when he isn’t bringing students to Eucharistic Adoration, going to Mass, or keeping the hallways safe, Mr. Hamilton likes to play board games, read (sci-fi and mysteries are his top genres right now), cook, and help other young adults grow in their faith and build community.
Wednesdays are Eucharistic Adoration days! We have an abbreviated lesson on those days, and then head to the chapel to join the parish in quiet adoration before the blessed sacrament, ending with the Divine Praises.
8th Graders and 7th Graders use the Spirit of Truth Curriculum from Sophia Institute for Teachers which incorporates classical elements like Scripture Memorization, Picture Studies, and Class Discussions. They also complete a weekly homework based on the Gospel passage for the upcoming Sunday Mass, so that they are prepared to listen and respond. The 7th Grade curriculum focuses on the Gospels and the person of Jesus Christ, and the 8th grade curriculum focuses on the Church, as well as preparation for Confirmation.
STEAM class involves a variety of projects and opportunities. 6th Grade includes a unit on coding. We do experiments and build challenges that complement the Science curriculum and utilize the Engineering Design Process. Classes also use the STEAM Maker cart that allows kids to create hydraulics, launchers, and rubber band racers.
Curriculum: Please reference the Diocese of Harrisburg website for more information on our curriculum.
History & Religion Teacher
TBD
Mathematics Teacher
Mr. Corey Paluga
Hometown: Williamsburg, Virginia
Education: M.Ed. in Educational Leadership – Lynchburg College; B.S. in Mathematics – Lynchburg College
Teaching at St. Leo the Great: 2025 – present
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17
Mr. Paluga teaches middle school math after spending 17 years as a college coach, administrator, and college consultant. While he originally planned to teach secondary math and coach middle/high school baseball, his career path led him into college athletics, with coaching stops at Lynchburg College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Elmira College, and Eastern University.
Mr. Paluga brings the same energy and enthusiasm from coaching into the classroom and is passionate about helping students see math as both accessible and meaningful. He especially enjoys sharing his love of problem-solving with middle school students and helping them build confidence in their mathematical thinking. Mr. Paluga is married to first grade teacher Bridget Paluga, and together they have three sons.
Integrated Language Arts (ILA) & Religion Teacher
Mr. Matt Hummer
Email: [email protected]
Hometown: Lancaster, PA
Education:
Loyola University in Maryland—B.A. English Literature
Villanova University—M.A. Classics (Latin)
West Chester University—Teacher Certification (English, Latin)
The University of the South, Sewanee—M.F.A. Creative Writing (Nonfiction)
Favorite Saints:
Many saints touch our lives. For me, Mary, Mother of God, St. Francis, St. Therese of Lisieux, Pope St. John Paul the Great, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and others stand out.
Another, who is important to me and is on the path to canonization, is Servant of God, Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. He is a Pennsylvania native and is buried in Wernersville, PA.
Quote by Fr. Ciszek:
“Everything that enters our life is shrouded in a certain mystery…When we are young, we don’t halt to consider seriously all that is human and divine within us…But then life, that master-teacher, opens its many doors to us and questions arise: What way to follow? Should I marry? What profession should I choose? However, these are not the most important questions…What does matter is understanding that I must choose, not what direction to take, but who I shall become. That is what we call ‘choosing a vocation’. It involves a response from within our very being, which is, in fact, an expression of what we were from the beginning”.
Triple Novena: Extraordinary Experiences, Powerful Prayer
Interests and Hobbies:
I love watching sports, especially soccer (il calcio, in Italy—go Roma!). I’m also a big fan of Villanova, Philly sports teams, and PSU. I learned how to play baseball, basketball, and soccer at St. Leo (1988 graduate). As the Romans say: mens sana in corpore sano (healthy mind in a healthy body).
I enjoy outside activities such as hikes and walks, gardening and raising bonsai, grilling, drawing landscapes, and sports.
Teaching Background:
I have taught English, Creative Writing, Composition, Latin, and History at middle school, high school, and college levels. I teach Latin and Classical History at Alvernia University as an adjunct. I’m also in a Ph.D. program in Composition and Applied Linguistics at I.U.P.
