Louise Scanlon, beloved longtime educator, honored at Valley Stream North High School

For more than 50 years, Room 119 at Valley Stream North High School was a second home for math teacher Louise Scanlon.

Often the first person to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at the end of the day, Scanlon could be exacting but, former students and colleagues said, she was a devoted friend and mentor who was quick to celebrate their achievements — even long after she had retired.

"She really wanted the best for her students," said Joseph Mando, a former student and now a teacher in the Valley Stream Central district. "There was a clear expectation in the classroom, and she wanted everyone to succeed."

Scanlon retired in 2012 but continued to volunteer with the school’s Spartan Club, a community service-oriented group. So when the Garden City resident died last March at 89 after a brief and sudden illness, her presence left a gap in the Valley Stream North community.

Searching for a way to honor her former fellow teacher of English as a new language, Anna Matheos in December raised $400 by selling roses to her colleagues to purchase two green-and-white signs proclaiming Scanlon's Way next to the image of a helmeted Spartan, the school's mascot.

The signs now flank the two ends of the hallway where Room 119 sits, a lasting tribute to the beloved educator.

The Spartan Club is also planning to award a scholarship in her honor.

"She was proud of her school," Matheos said. "She was proud of her students."

Weekly phone calls and dinner dates

Matheos, who has worked for the district for more than 20 years, said she bonded with Scanlon — who enjoyed trying cuisines from different countries — over Greek food. After she retired, Scanlon would annually visit a Greek festival and report back to Matheos on what she ate and what the atmosphere was like. The pair spoke on the phone weekly and often went out to dinner together.

"She remembered all my kids' names in her 80s, what schools they went to, what they were doing," Matheos recalled.

Rosemarie Filippi, a special-education teacher at the high school, also remembered her colleague fondly.

Filippi said that while working as a teacher’s assistant for Scanlon, the educator encouraged her to go back to school to become a teacher. When she earned tenure in 2020, Scanlon called the next day to congratulate her, she said.

"I heard you got your tenure last night," Scanlon said in a voicemail, which Filippi still has saved on her phone. "Congratulations, you are set now, right. Good job."

Filippi joked that she wasn't sure how Scanlon found out since she didn't have a computer or cellphone. 

'Like another grandma'

During her time as an educator, Scanlon assisted with the school’s kickline team, volunteered at school dances and worked the concession stand at football games, among other activities.

"She took pride in the school," Matheos said. "She gave back."

In the classroom, Scanlon was a detail-oriented teacher who cared about accuracy and would take away partial credit if a decimal wasn't in the right place, Mando recalled.

"She taught us to be very meticulous with how we calculated things," Mando said.

Filippi remembered her former mentor as an old-school teacher who still used a projector and the chalkboard in the classroom until her retirement. 

"She was just very passionate about what she did," Filippi said. "She was really organized. She had worksheets and would type them out in a typewriter."

After Mando left high school, he said Scanlon continued to check on him and even attended his college graduation party. 

"In college, she would want to hear directly ... how my classes where going and how student teaching was going," he said. "She was like another grandma. Another person that was part of family."

Mando said he and his mother brought Scanlon meals during the height of the pandemic. He said he appreciated their daily conversations and "everything she did for me as a student."

"I miss her," he said. "I really do."