Norma was born in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of immigrant parents Corsignana and Vincenzo Scivetti from Giovinazzo, Italy. She and her older sister Ann enrolled in the Hudson Falls Central School system when Norma was in first grade. Seasonal town offerings such as playground activities at Maple Street Elementary School and ice skating at Derby Park along with school sponsored events, clubs, girls’ intramural sports, and music provided an atmosphere to thrive outside the classroom. These activities transitioned Norma from a Brooklyn girl to a Hudson Falls Tiger.
Norma graduated from Hudson Falls with the class of 1968. She continued her education at Russell Sage College where she received a BA degree in French and Spanish followed by an MA degree in Advanced Classroom Teaching of the Foreign Language from SUNY Albany. After a successful year of teaching in Lawrenceville, NJ, she returned to Hudson Falls in 1973 to teach French and Spanish for ten years. She organized and chaperoned student travel to France, Spain, and Canada and established the local chapter of the Société Honoraire de Francais. She advised the French Club, Cheerleaders, and Junior Prom and served on the Superintendent’s Advisory Council.
Norma studied as one of four Rotary Scholars chosen from the United States to participate in a teacher exchange in Chavaniac, France during the summer of 1979. At the annual convention of the NY State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, she taught colleagues how to integrate culture into their lessons. She was inducted into the Delta Kappa Gamma Honor society in 1982.
While she and her husband John were raising their daughters Jessica and Laura, Norma remained active professionally honoring requests from teachers in area schools as a long term substitute, invited speaker, and private tutor. She was a Board member and headed the Education Committee of the International Arts and Culture Association.
Norma represented the South Glens Falls community on the Citizens Advisory Committee and the School Business Connection and secured a visitation with children’s author Ann McGovern for the elementary students. She returned to teaching in the middle school in South Glens Falls in 1993 and in 2001 became a SUNY Albany adjunct professor at the senior high offering French 4 and 5 as college credit bearing courses. She again formed a chapter of the Société Honoraire de Francais for her students.
In retirement, Norma joined Soroptimist International of the Adirondacks. As part of the Service Committee, she volunteers weekly at Catholic Charities to help displaced women. This group was given the Volunteer Award of the Diocese of Albany last year.