"My Favorite Teacher"

Our Memoirs will continue to feature "My Favorite Teacher" submissions from time to time. Our 2 submissions this months are by students who began their high school years in 1965 at the Eastside Annex. They both graduated Eastside High School in Paterson in 1969.>>

My Favorite Teacher - Mr. James Smith was my freshman English teacher. Not only was he a great teacher, but he also taught us discipline. If you were late for class, forgot your homework or spoke out of turn, he would “give you some time”. In Mr. Smith’s language, this meant detention. On the other hand, he really cared about his students and took us on a field trip to see Barefoot In The Park on Broadway. It was so exciting to go on a bus to N.Y., have lunch and then to see the play. The trip was such a success that later that year he hired a bus on a Saturday and took us to see Funny Girl on his own time.

I still remember going back stage and getting my programs autographed by some of the cast members. Thank you Mr. Smith for taking the time to give us this wonderful experience.
Sharon Novack Frankel ("Charito")
The images below are of me in 1965 and of Mr.James Smith, who wrote some kind words to me on his yearbook photo.

Sharon Novack Frankel 1965 — Sharon Novack Frankel ("Charito") 1965

My Favorite Teacher - I met Mr. Thomas Eanelli on my very first day as a freshman in high school. It was September of 1965 and “we” were the very first class to occupy the building on Hamilton and Lee Street, across the street from the Passaic County Court House. Hall. Before we got there it was first called Paterson High School and then Central High School. Now it was called the Eastside Annex. We were sent there because there was no room for us in the main building of Eastside High School*. The main building would now be only occupied by sophomores, juniors and seniors until further notice.

Mr. Eanelli was my home room teacher and I was now in a class with other kids with last names mostly starting with the letter “D,” just like me. Although I only saw him for the first 20 minutes of each day when he took attendance, he did so much more. In addition he seemed an unlikely “type” to make such a positive impression on me. First of all he seemed to be a tough type of guy, a Jackie Gleason look-alike but with far less girth. He had a wavy sweep of salt-and-pepper hair and a matter-of-fact, semi-street-wise way of speaking which I will soon explain. He was a music teacher and it didn’t seem to me, in my 13 years of living, that a music teacher would have much depth to offer if one weren’t interested in playing an instrument. However, I was wrong.

On that very first day he held us in rapt attention as he delivered sober advice to us about the “trip” we were about to embark upon as brand new high school students. He told us that the rest of our lives were now on the precipice of whether or not we would be successful in life. He told us to take our schooling seriously because it could make or break us for the rest of our lives, whether we would be successful - if we wanted to be, which he strongly recommended. Perhaps we wanted to just fulfill our dreams, or just be happy. But it still behooved us to take our education seriously because it would always come in handy. Everyone was listening; you could even hear a pin drop. This very impressive first speech of his was not his last. And here I thought he looked like Ralph Kramden and had not much to offer except attendance taking. There was something sweet and endearing about his hard-shell exterior and the mixture of tough and tender was somehow a winning combination for me.

This compelled me to take up the drums in one of his classes because I thought taking a class of his would be special. It was. I learned how to drum and play in harmony with others. Once, as a sophomore, I moved “up” to the main building. My drumsticks were never seen or heard from again. Mr. Eanelli will always be remembered by his “welcome to the adult world” speech. It was then and there that I knew a lot was expected of me.

According to the May 22, 1972 article from “The News” in Paterson, N.J.”, they said this about Mr. Eanelli: “He became one of the top jazz pianists in the United States, playing for many of the famous top performers - Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, Woody Herman, and Gene Krupa.

Dorothy Douma Greene