My Favorite Teacher” by 3 Happy Former Students
My favorite teacher was Miss Dempsey - georgraphy teacher in the eighth grade, Public School Number 6 in Paterson. She taught us the facts of N.J. - cities and counties. She was a factual person who brought numbers and statistics alive! I remember them to this day...
Miss Dempsey was a kind person always caring for her students. She matched my personality to a "T." My memory and her quesitons always worked out well.She signed my 8th grade autograph book as follows: "The greatest happiness is making others happy!" January 1936. See below.
- Dr.Joseph Rubenstein, School Number 6, Class of January 1936
Steve with his parents, Arthur and Mary, at Bradley Beach in 1948.
I most remember my chem teacher, Ms. Culmone (Or Mrs., I forgot). I generally was disinterested in math and most sciences but really liked chemistry. Even though she had a reputation for being “mean” I never saw or experienced it. Although I chose the social sciences route into law, she triggered a lifelong curiosity in the physical sciences. Even now, at age 87, I remain a fan of cosmology and quantum physics. And I think she probably was only in her 20’s when she taught me chemistry.
- Steve Weiss,Eastside High School,. Class of 1955
Steve is a retired attorney now living now in Montecito, California, but always a proud Patersonian at heart
My first inspirational teacher was Isabel Birmingham, grade two, school 13. When the adjacent girl raised her hand and said 'David didn't say the Lord's prayer', Miss B. said 'he doesn't have to'. My big brother and I went to the Emma Lazarus Club Shul at 89 Carroll Street. We started to learn Yiddish.
Miss Dorothy Monks was the coolest English teacher when I was at Eastside, 1958-62. I was not one of those who raised my hand ever. She somehow perceived what I was reading outside of school assignments and occasionally called on me when one of those outside books or subjects showed up. She was one of two teachers I wrote to, after college graduation, to thank for her inspiration.
In my senior year, I wasn't even going to apply for the Devenport Award test, but I did, and I got my name on a plaque in the front hall of Eastside for being the first winner. There were rumors that some people's favorite English teachers wanted to change the qualifications after I won it, but I wasn't asked to return the certificate.
Mrs. Beatrice Petronero Neilsen threw chalk at me when I asked, 'What will we ever need algebra for?' I had no idea that many other students had already questioned that, but after a while, the math germ grew in me, and I got a barely deserved admission to Cooper Union Engineering. In College, I took a class in Economics which gave me a path to indescribable success. After graduation, I tutored erstwhile co workers in algebra. I did not throw chalk at anyone.
Mr. Morris Waldstein really cemented my interest in how things work in his physics class. He thought I should go in for electrical engineering but I wasn't that smart and had already blown fuses at home with electrical experiments and barely graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Cooper. His main lesson was not memorizing things you can figure out. Waldstein was the other teacher I reached out to, after my school years.- David Weinstock, Fairfax CA
