Frank Cicci's daughter calls her dad "the busiest retired person" she knows.

After 36 years teaching in Scranton, Pa.--although he officially retired in 2000--Cicci still can be found at the Scranton Federation of Teachers Educational Research and Dissemination (ER&D) site teaching the "Thinking Math" course to teachers or in a Scranton public school classroom mentoring teachers or teaching computer literacy. "ÔI have retired from public school teaching,' is what I say," explains Cicci.

"I didn't retire because I was burned out," says Cicci about his busy schedule helping SFT members in the classroom. "It was time to move on and do other things."

Besides having just helped start a retiree chapter for the SFT and becoming its vice president, Cicci has been playing a valuable role in the local's ER&D program.

"Frank's a really wonderful guy," says Kathy Buzad, the local ER&D site coordinator. "He has been a great help to the program." She explains that ER&D is a research-based professional development program, as well as an induction program for new teachers in Scranton and serves as the basis for standards-based professional development in math and reading instruction.

The Thinking Math component, which Cicci was trained to teach, is a research-based, teacher-developed approach to teaching mathematics. It focuses on sense-making ways to think about mathematics for teachers and students, particularly in grades K-6.

Having been a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher and then a Title I math specialist in an elementary school, Cicci is a particularly good fit for teaching and mentoring in the Thinking Math component.

"I enjoyed my teaching; I loved what I was doing," says Cicci, who adds that he really enjoys being with other educators and young people--"they keep you on task."

When asked why he officially retired, Cicci answers that it was time to move on and do other things, although he doesn't mean sitting in a rocking chair and reading a book. That prospect, however, he says, "is beginning to look good."