Claire Aiello

TESTIMONIAL

Claire Aiello

Vice President of Image Development & Communications
Huntsville/Madison County Chamber
caiello@hsvchamber.org

Where do you live?

I live in south Huntsville. I have about a 15-20 minute drive to work, which is downtown.

Where are you from and how did you get to the Redstone region?

I’m originally from Palatka, Florida (northeast corner of the state). I attended Catholic school from 5^th-12^th grades because my mom was a public school teacher and didn’t want my sister and me to attend the schools in our hometown. So, we rode a bus to St. Augustine, 50 minutes every morning and 50 minutes every afternoon. I definitely got my homework done!  My parents didn’t let the distance stop us from playing sports. We carpooled with other families from our city to get home from practices and games. I really appreciate what our parents did to make sure we had a well-rounded school experience.

I watched the University of Alabama play Miami for the National Championship in 1992, and said to my Dad, ‘How about I go to Bama?’ and that is honestly how I decided to come here. I didn’t know anything about the school before that, but learned it had a good journalism school, so my plans were set.  I headed to Tuscaloosa and graduated in 1997. Roll Tide! I met my husband Joey during our junior year. He is from Huntsville and wanted to move back after graduation, so we did.  We’ve been here ever since and we love it.  I worked in local television news in Huntsville for 17 years and have been at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber for the past eight years.

If you raised/are raising kids, please share about their education experience:

We have a daughter and son, Elena, age 20, and Nick, age 17. They both attended Huntsville City Schools (in fact, the same three schools their Dad attended). Elena and Nick both attended Weatherly Heights Elementary and Mountain Gap Middle School, and Elena went on to Grissom High School where she was in the marching band, played soccer, and took Advanced Placement classes along with curriculum in HCS’ health pathway. This allowed her to shadow in Crestwood Medical Center and Huntsville Hospital her junior and senior years, seeing the medical field up close. She also earned her Patient Care

Technician certification as a high school senior. She is now a junior at the University of Alabama pursuing a nursing degree.  Every summer she has worked at Huntsville Hospital as a patient care technician and enjoys the experience in various departments. This summer, she’s slated to work in the ER!

Our son Nick just graduated from the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE) which is a state magnet high school located in Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park. His classes went in depth on cyber technology, engineering, mathematics, physics, and other sciences, as well as arts and language. Students finish all four years of classes in three years, then for their senior year, they complete a Capstone project and intern at a local company. Nick’s internship was at Leidos, where he got real world experience with their teams doing work for government customers, including CAD design and project management.  Nick will attend the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) this fall and plans to major in mechanical engineering. Go Chargers!

Nick is also an Eagle Scout! We have a very active Scouting community in north Alabama, with lots of troops for boys and girls to join, whether you want to do Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts, or something else. 

 

What is an ideal weekend for you? (please focus on regional activities)

For many years we spent our weekends going to scouting events or soccer games, but now that our kids are grown, we enjoy hiking, and we often take our two golden retrievers with us. We also enjoy camping, kayaking, and continuing with other activities we learned to love through Scouts.

We also enjoy arts festivals such as Panoply, music concerts and more. We’ve been to plenty of shows at The Orion Amphitheatre – most recently, we saw Cake, Dwight Yoakam, and ZZ Top.

I also love to work in my garden. I grow flowers and vegetables. In Alabama, you can plant in mid- to late April!

What is one thing you would like Space Command personnel to know about the region?

We’re a very smart, curious community.  We are also friendly and welcoming. Most of our residents have moved from somewhere else, and we know what it’s like to be in a new place. I have no doubt that your neighbors will say hello pretty quickly and make you feel welcome in your new home.

You will also need to pick Alabama or Auburn. It doesn’t matter if you attended college somewhere else. Just pick Alabama. 😊