Community Lauds Retiring Faculty
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The past few weeks have been a hectic time for the Scarsdale Board of Education. Following the defeat of the first school budget and Dr. Michael McGill's announcement that he will step down as Superintendent of Scarsdale Schools next year, the Board of Education has been dealing with some difficult, almost unprecedented issues.
For nearly one month, since the first budget was defeated on May 21st, the Board of Education has been working tirelessly to structure a new budget that in Dr. McGill's words "is mindful of this community's commitment to excellence while gauging where the community is in terms of fiscal restraint."
The Board seems to have fulfilled both of these conditions, as the revised budget maintains class sizes, extra curricular activities and core educational programs, all while reducing costs by over $1,300,000.
On the night before the second vote, June 17, the Board of Education paused from financial discussions to recognize the retirements of esteemed teachers and faculty.
Here is a list of the newly retired staff (effective July 1st, 2013) and their respective positions:
- MaryAnn Kingston: Librarian at Heathcote School
- MariEmmi Pozzouli: Elementary Classroom Teacher at Edgewood School
- Helen Pasternack: Art Teacher at Edgewood School
- Cora Five: Elementary Classroom Teacher at Edgewood School
- Diane Celentano: Kindergarten Dance/LCI Coordinator
- Phyllis DiBianco: Librarian
- Neil Ginsberg: Social Studies Teacher
- Leonard Kerson: Librarian
- Mar Krauss: Psychologist
- Michael Mendelson: Director of Special Education
- Amy Schandler: Special Education CSE/CPSE
Among these 11 teachers, Diane Celentano, Phyllis DiBianco, Neil Ginsberg and Michael Mendelson were in attendance at Tuesday's Board Meeting and received special commemorations replete with heartfelt speeches from Scarsdale Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Joan Weber, Superintendent Michael McGill, SHS Principal Kenneth Bonamo, Dr. Robert DiYanni, and other members of the Scarsdale community.
"Vivacious, animated, spirited and enthusiastic." Those are the words Joan Weber used to describe Diane Celentano. Diane first came to Quaker Ridge as a classroom teacher "with a range of admirable skills." She "had an exceptional capacity as a leader" and "made both her students and colleagues feel valued and respected" said Weber. Dr. Robert DiYanni, Director of Art and Aesthetic Education said Diane "consistently evokes the love of her students, appreciation of parents and respect and admiration of Scarsdale colleagues." Diane was always "characterized by her vitality and passion for the arts." She had "a strong interest in arts and dance," which led to her participation with the district's early collaboration with the Lincoln Center Institute. She ultimately "gave rise to kindergarten dance program" and eventually "became the Kindergarten Dance and Lincoln Center Institute Coordinator." According to Dr. DiYanni, it was Diane who made the "resurgence of the Lincoln center program possible." In short, Diane was "a major inspiration to her students and colleagues."
According to former Assistant Principal Fred Goldberg, "Every school should have a Neil Ginsberg, but two would certainly be too many." Joan Weber described Neil as "a force of nature." He is an "iconic figure" and "has been the life and soul of Scarsdale High School for the past 39 years," said Principal Kenneth Bonamo. Neil is "a precious resource" says Eric Rothschild. "He is a teacher of exceptional qualities and his relationships are superior. He is the person students talk to for any issue." He is invariably positive to everyone and there is "no one more skilled at giving students and colleagues a warm and encouraging word," said Ken Bonamo. Neil's exceptional interpersonal skills are just one of the attributes that make him "a blessing for one's school." "It is also the enthusiasm he has for the place." Neil "glows with enthusiasm undiminished by the passage of time," said Ken Bonaomo. Judy Fox wrote, "Keeping up with Neil is as challenging as following a game of racquetball. His ideas are fast and exciting and he uses the whole court. He exhausts the spectator." Neil's contributions to Scarsdale Schools have been "extensive and exhaustive." Neil was part of the group that founded the Civ-Ed program and was a leader in the Senior Options program. He played an integral role as student government advisor and student activities advisor. Not to mention, he brought the carnival to Scarsdale High School. There is "not a piece of the SHS curriculum that doesn't bear the fingerprint of Ginsberg," said Ken Bonamo.
Phyllis DiBianco "is a librarian who maintained her status as a visionary," said Ken Bonamo. Phyllis came to Scarsdale in 1997 with "a wealth of experience as a media specialist." She "opened online resources to hundreds of students and staff." "The library has been her kingdom and she has reigned wisely," said Joan Weber. "Drawing on an unlimited source of energy, Phyllis prepares thoroughly to help students and colleagues access the treasure drawer of information she carefully curates for them," says Ken Bonamo. She "is mannered with students, both caring and firm." She has been very involved in SHS affairs, serving on nearly every school committee and has been "a pleasure to work with on many collaborations" said Weber. She is an "advocate and expert in the use of technology and "all have grown from her advocacy, art, and craft." "Scarsdale offered Phyllis "the opportunity to question, explore and grow. ...The Board wishes her the best as she pursues the next chapter with her grandchildren abroad and in the states."
Joan Weber recalls Dr. Mendelson's initial interview. "He walked in with a slow, confident demeanor, all sun tanned and relaxed in his loafers. The year was 2000, Mendelson and the millennium had arrived." Mike had come to work as the Director of Special Education. "Dr. Michael Mendelson's job may be the toughest in district," said Superintendent Michael McGill. "The work is to provide an education that is appropriate and of high quality for kids who really struggle. That by itself is immensely difficult. In addition, the work involves counseling, advising, supporting and hearing parents who are themselves in distress because of problems that they are wrestling with as a family. Mike does a superior job of balancing all those different forces. He does the finest job of any special education director I have ever worked with. He is a combination of professional competence and personal grace," said McGill. Now, 13 years later, "Mike leaves a bit more pale of complexion and somewhat more intense, but still with characteristic wit and mischievous smile," said Joan Weber. "He took on the complex empire of special education." He helped hundreds of students grow into the people they are supposed to be. "His intelligence is very rare in this kind of job and we are going to have a very difficult time replacing him," said Weber.
"Compassion, caring and bonds with students have become the hallmark of Scarsdale education," said SHS PTA President Jaqui Walter. Scarsdale High School parents would like to thank these educators "who have had such a profound impact on our children." "They are the heart, soul and brain of the environment to which we send our kids everyday."
Descendant of the Hyatt Family Visits Cudner Hyatt House
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This week, Carolyn Mehta and Barbara MacDonald from the Scarsdale Historical Society welcomed Guen Sublette from Colorado to her ancestral home, the Cudner Hyatt House, currently the headquarters of the Scarsdale Historical Society. Guen came to Scarsdale to see the house where her great great grandparents Oliver and Sarah Bates Hyatt lived and her great grandfather was born. After touring the house, the group also visited the graveyard of St. James the Less to see the graves of the Hyatt and Bates family.
From time to time the Scarsdale Historical Society receives calls from distant relatives of the Hyatt's and other old Scarsdale families to request 
a visit. A few years ago the CNN London correspondent, Jim Boulden, a descendent of the Popham family came to visit Scarsdale. He toured some local Popham properties, visited the graves at St. James the Less and then had lunch in a Popham house.currently owned by Joan Frankel. She showed Boulden a piece of silverware engraved with his ancerstor's crest and initials that had been found buried in a wall of the house.
Portraits of the Women of Scarsdale Part 2
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For their senior options independent project, SHS Seniors Jennifer Eisler and Caroline Rodman produced a photo essay featuring some of Scarsdale's leading ladies. Jennifer and Caroline met with a diverse array of women who live and work in the community and interviewed them to learn about their experiences in Scarsdale. They photographed each woman in her element to represent a variety of female lifestyles in Scarsdale. Part one of their project was posted last week and can be viewed here. Below is the second part of "Women of Scarsdale".
What does it feel like to be a woman in Scarsdale?
Carrie Gilpin, The Scarsdale Inquirer (pictured above)
"It is fantastic! I love my job, it's convenient to be living in the town and also working here. I have three children who I raised in town and two of them are still in the schools here. It's really nice to be able to live in the place where I work because I get to know people on many different levels, both through my work professionally and on a social level within the volunteer work that I have done at the schools."
Sonia, Central Taxi of Scarsdale
"Empowered! I'm doin' a job I love, so I feel empowered. I can do it all! Ha ha ha! I drive a lot of women around, mostly to the train station, a lot of professionals going into Manhattan. I really enjoy it. I like meeting people."
Librarian, Scarsdale Public Library
"I've been working at this library for 28 years. I'm in a female dominated profession, so that's one thing to make note of. I think that all of us who work here feel a lot of support from the community and from the village government as well."
Erica
"Actually, it's kind of surreal. I moved here six months ago and now I live with my sister. I'm from Philadelphia, so it's a very different lifestyle, but it's amazing. There is really no place like it. I think I have it pretty good, I get to play with my nieces all day."
Jeanne Cooper, Scarsdale Alternative School English teacher
"I've been here 30 years. I like the job but it's a lot of work, it's really hard to go home with homework day after day after day. I never have a clear desk except in the summer and if you think about how students complain about being tired after 3 years if you multiply that by 10 you can imagine it's pretty tiring but the students are mostly nice and I like them. Some of the parents are crazy and they're a little harder to deal with but you just try and keep calm."
Nikki, Parking Enforcement Officer
"I have been working in Scarsdale doing parking enforcement for about a year, but before that about 40 years with my family in the shoe repair business. I love being a woman in Scarsdale. The community is great."
Emily Hirsch, Candy 'n Cards
"I have been working in Scarsdale for 46 years and I still love it. I love the people that come in and I have made a lot of friends."
Teresa, Lange's Deli
"Honestly I feel so lucky because it's a nice environment and all the people are really nice and polite. I feel so good."
Christine Judge, Sotheby's Realtor
"It's very exciting. It's very fulfilling and it's a pleasure working with the residents in Scarsdale."
Nurse, Scarsdale Village
"I'm originally from Jersey, so Scarsdale's all new to me. I started this job 7 months ago. You know... the people are different. You have the nice ones and you have the snotty ones...can I say that? (laughs) It's definitely a wealthy town so you get a lot of those. It's a mixture of everything. But I enjoy it."
Democrats Hold Summer Kick-Off at Taiim Cellar
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The Scarsdale Democratic Town Committee held its summer kick-off event on Sunday June 9 at Taiim Cellars to support the Democratic candidates for several Westchester County races. Among the guest speakers were Congressman Eliot Engel, NYS State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins and NYS Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. In attendance were Ben Boykin, Democrati nominee for the Westchester County Legislature and Noam Bramson, Democrative candidate for Westchester County Executive.
Portraits of the Women of Scarsdale
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To mark their transition from SHS Seniors to college freshmen, Jennifer Eisler and Caroline Rodman have created a meaningful final project for their senior options. Jennifer and Caroline met with a diverse array of women who live and work in the community and interviewed them to learn about their experiences in Scarsdale. They photographed each woman in her element to represent a variety of female lifestyles in Scarsdale's close-knit neighborhood. Their senior options project has proved unique and valuable because it taught them how to ask people the right questions and how to make them feel comfortable in an interview. For Jennifer and Caroline, "It has been a pleasure to meet so many wonderful women of Scarsdale before we leave the community we love."
Here is part 1 of the Women of Scarsdale Senior Options Project. Part 2 will be posted next week.
The Wonderful Women of Scarsdale
What does it feel like to be a woman in Scarsdale?
Joanne Fiedler, owner of Jewels By Joanne
How does it feel to be a working woman in Scarsdale?
"It feels very good, very satisfying. Great clientele and I love working so close to home. It allows me to be both a mother and a professional businesswoman. I have been working here for 13 years. My mother-in-law was a jeweler in the Scarsdale village for close to 30 years. She taught me the business but then she passed away. I decided that it was my passion to buy and sell jewelry.
Cantor Jill Abramson, Westchester Reform Temple
"I love being a part of a close knit community where I get to wear multiple hats. One as a professional workingwoman and also as a mom and a member of a dynamic community. I feel very proud to be part of a profession where women have only been being ordained as cantors since the early 70s, so I still feel very proud to be a pioneer. I find that I am met really unanimously with people who are excited and supportive of my work as a woman. I feel honored to be modeling it for generations to come of both young girls and young boys."
Iris Cohen, owner of Be True Yoga
My inspiration for opening the [yoga] studio was really to get to know my community better because my children go to Solomon Schechter. It was a little bit more challenging to meet people in the community, so I wanted a place that would bring people together, men and women, and on that scale it has really been a great joy. I've met a lot of people and I will say that yoga is a little self-selecting in some ways because you get people who are interested in their own healing and they're pretty aware. So I've met some amazing people that I wouldn't have met otherwise.
Victoria, Tsevis Furs of Scarsdale
"I've been here since I was 14. My parents moved here with my sisters and we love it. I have a bunch of sisters that live here also and my family is here. I have a little 11-year-old boy. I've worked here for about 20 years on and off I took breaks in between. Being a woman in Scarsdale...yeah I don't have the attitude but I'm still you know...(laughs)."
Amy Paulin, New York State Assemblywoman
I've lived in Scarsdale for 33 years so it's home and everyone in the community feels like home to me. It's extraordinarily easy to represent Scarsdale because I understand what the community's needs and concerns are, and of course many of the people are my friends. My kids grew up here so I know a lot of the families. Everyone feels really comfortable reaching out to me and telling me what they think so it's a very easy relationship."
Kaylee Waterhouse, Scarsdale Freshmen Baseball Team Player
"I've been playing with these guys all my life. They are really close and so much fun to be with. It's a lot of fun being on the team and being accepted as a girl...it's awesome. I've always played baseball. The boys tease me a little bit, but in a good way. True friendship."
Carol Kushnick, playing bridge with friends
"It's a great community and I love raising my kids here. I feel like everyone is warm, friendly, and the women here are motivated to make themselves better and their kids."
Malvina Guretsky, founder of MAG Tricotes
"It feels like I'm immediately part of the community. It's a very close-knit community, which is both good and bad. The good thing is you feel like it's home, but the bad thing is everybody knows everything. Everyone knows each other's business, etcetera. But I like it...I've only been here for about 10 months and I'm very pleasantly surprised that I have a lot of clients and they're very loyal to me. They're very appreciative, and they send me pictures of themselves in my dresses. Again, it feels like family."
Joanne Wallenstein, founder of Scarsdale10583
"I feel like I'm at the center of the community and I feel so lucky to live here and to have the opportunity to manage Scarsdale10583. For the website I draw on many of my friends for information and people I worked with on a lot of village committees. Many of them are women, so perhaps yes, being a woman might be an advantage in the position I'm in now. This is the most involved, interactive community, and people are very passionate about what they do."
Lena, Peter's Tailoring
"My name is Lena, and this is Nancy and Mima. The people here are very generous and kind and we love to deal with people in Scarsdale, they are very nice people. We have had no problems in 23 years!"
Mayor Levitt Flisser
"Scarsdale is a very unusual community because of the educational level of the residences. The residents are able to comprehend the complex problems and issues that they are interested in and so if we have to make a compromise they can understand that and absorb it. Although we can't do everything the way that everyone wants, we put a lot of time and effort into making the decisions that we have to make...It's quite a positive experience."
Do you think your job would have been any different if you were a male?
"Yes I think that in general working as a female is different than as a male. It's not what you do, but what is done for you. This is true in my real job, which is a pediatrician; I'm a doctor, and all the other positions I have always been in. Women do not get the same support with various procedures. Men definitely get more support from people in the work place than women do. Also, there are higher standards for their achievement where as men can get away with more than women can, but all that being said, it is easy for us to do that so it's alright!"
