Terri Ficca Globe Park School: Life, Legacy, and the Viral Story Behind the Teacher
Terri Ann Ficca was a third-grade teacher at Globe Park School in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, remembered for her commitment to outdoor education and her ability to make learning genuinely engaging. Though she died in September 2007, her story gained renewed online attention in 2023 when YouTube content creators Sam and Colby mentioned her by name during their series filmed at the Conjuring House in Harrisville, Rhode Island — sparking widespread curiosity about who she was and what her connection to the location might be. No verified evidence supports any link between Terri Ficca and the Conjuring House.
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Who Was Terri Ficca?
Terri Ann Ficca was born on February 6, 1960, in Butler, Pennsylvania, to Dolores (Lefebvre) Ficca and Anthony P. Ficca. She spent most of her childhood and adult life in Woonsocket, where she graduated from high school in 1978. In 2005, she relocated to North Smithfield, Rhode Island, where she was living at the time of her death.
Her academic path was shaped by a deep interest in nature and the outdoors. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Outdoor Recreation from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, then completed her teaching certification in Elementary Education at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. At the time of her passing, she was actively working toward a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education — a reflection of her sustained commitment to her profession.
Before and during her teaching career, Terri also worked for many years at Eastern Mountain Sports, where she led outdoor educational seminars for the public. Her professional background combined classroom instruction with hands-on environmental experience in a way that few elementary educators managed.
Teaching at Globe Park School
Globe Park School, located at 192 Avenue A in Woonsocket, has been part of the city’s public education system since the early twentieth century. Terri taught third grade there as a member of the Woonsocket School Department, where she was described by colleagues and students as someone who brought genuine enthusiasm to every lesson.
Her classroom was known for blending standard academic instruction with activities drawn from her background in outdoor recreation. Students who passed through her class frequently recalled the outdoor-focused lessons that set her apart from other teachers. According to a 2005 Globe Park yearbook, more than 90 percent of her students said they looked forward to her outdoor-based sessions.
Beyond classroom instruction, Terri was an active member of the Globe Park Parent-Teacher Association, participating in school events and building connections between the school and the surrounding Woonsocket community. Her involvement extended to:
| School Involvement | Community Involvement |
|---|---|
| Third-grade classroom instruction | Softball coaching (12 years in Woonsocket) |
| Environmental education programs | Boy Scout mentoring |
| Globe Park PTA participation | Big Sisters of America volunteer |
She also pursued personal outdoor adventures extensively, having completed much of the Appalachian Trail and regularly camping, kayaking, and hiking. These experiences fed directly into how she approached teaching, giving her lessons a practical, lived quality that students responded to.
Teaching Philosophy
Terri’s approach to education centered on curiosity and active participation rather than passive instruction. She believed that children learn more durably when they interact directly with the subject matter, whether through hands-on projects, outdoor observation, or open-ended discussion.
Her background in outdoor recreation gave her a practical lens for teaching environmental concepts and science, while her involvement in community organizations kept her closely connected to the lives her students actually lived outside school. She worked to adapt to different learning styles and to ensure that every child in her class felt genuinely included in the learning process.
Educators who knew her described her not as someone who simply delivered content, but as someone who built the kind of classroom environment where children were motivated to come back the next day.
Personal Life and Community Ties
Outside of school, Terri was known for her love of golfing and for her two pets, Talkeetna and Maka. She coached Woonsocket softball for twelve years and volunteered with the Boy Scouts and Big Sisters of America, consistently applying the same mentorship instincts outside school that defined her work inside it.
She is survived by her mother, Dolores Ficca of North Smithfield; her sister, Christine Belisle, and her husband Normand of Spring Hill, Florida; and two brothers, Thomas Ficca and his wife Ann Marie of North Smithfield, and Anthony Ficca II and his wife Janet of Norfolk, Virginia. As aunt “T,” she also left behind nieces and nephews Bethany Leduc, Aimee Kenyon, Gary, Melissa, Emily, Robert, and Jacob Ficca.
Death and Memorial
Terri Ficca died on September 24, 2007, at age 47, at Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket. The cause of her death has not been publicly disclosed. Her passing was described by those who knew her as sudden, and it deeply affected students, colleagues, and community members throughout Woonsocket and the surrounding area.
Her funeral was held on September 29, 2007, with a Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church at 1409 Park Ave., Woonsocket. She was buried at St. Charles Cemetery in Blackstone, Massachusetts.
Instead of flowers, her family requested memorial contributions be made to the Globe Park School PTA, directed to the Terri Ficca Library Fund at Globe Park School, 192 Avenue A, Woonsocket, RI 02895. A commemorative plaque in her honor was later installed at Globe Park School.
The Sam and Colby Connection and Viral Attention
In 2023, YouTube content creators Sam and Colby — known for producing videos centered on paranormal exploration — included Terri’s name in their series filmed at the Conjuring House, a property in Harrisville, Rhode Island, that became widely known after inspiring the 2013 Warner Bros. horror film The Conjuring, directed by James Wan. The house was sold to a Boston developer in 2022 and has continued to draw paranormal tourism.
During their video series, Sam and Colby claimed to have contacted Terri’s spirit at the property. The claim drew significant online attention and renewed public interest in her life story, with many viewers seeking out details of her biography and the circumstances of her death.
No historical evidence places Terri Ficca at the Conjuring House, and no verified connection exists between her and the property. The attention that followed, however, introduced a new audience to the story of a dedicated teacher who had made a real difference in her community long before any viral interest arose.
What Terri Ficca Left Behind?
The enduring interest in Terri Ficca’s story reflects something straightforward: she was a teacher who took her work seriously and made a measurable impression on the people around her. The Terri Ficca Library Fund at Globe Park School stands as the formal record of that community appreciation. The plaque at the school, the recollections of former students, and the PTA contributions made in her memory speak to a career built on genuine investment in children’s education.
Her story is most accurately understood not through the lens of online speculation, but through the record she left in Woonsocket — twelve years coaching softball, years of outdoor educational work, and a third-grade classroom where curiosity was treated as an asset rather than a distraction.
