Longtime LI educator Robert E. Carp dies

Robert E. Carp of Woodmere, a dedicated, active teacher in Hewlett-Woodmere schools for nearly four decades and longtime adviser of the award-winning Hewlett Spectrum newspaper, died Friday at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside. He was 60.

Carp taught social studies for 38 years and was chairman of the social studies department at George W. Hewlett High School from the late 1980s until his retirement in June, relatives said.

During his retirement dinner on June 22, he said this about being a teacher: "We may not get golden parachutes in this profession, but I've got a folder of letters from students that are worth their weight in gold. To be a good teacher, one must love the subject he teaches. One also has to have the skill - some say the art - of knowing how to reach students. When to act stern, when to act silly, when to raise the level of expectations, when to lower them."

Carp was born in Manhattan and grew up in Queens Village. He graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village and earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1971 from Queens College, where he went on to receive a master's in history.

During his career, he also was involved in the teachers' union and student government, and was faculty adviser for the class of 1989, his family said. At Hewlett High, he attended every sports night, where he also acted as a judge, and cabaret night, where funds were raised for the Laura Rosenberg Foundation, an affiliate of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In addition, he was a counselor at the Franklin Summer Recreation Program in Hewlett.

Rachel Gutner, 21, of Woodmere, a 2007 graduate of Hewlett High School, spoke of his positive and lasting influence.

"Mr. Carp is one of the most inspiring, passionate and caring teachers I have ever encountered," she said. "Even adjectives such as 'inspiring,' 'passionate' and 'caring' don't do Mr. Carp justice . . . his legacy will last longer than the high school building itself."

In guiding students on the Spectrum staff for about 20 years, he and co-adviser Margery Kashman helped lead the paper to local, regional and state awards - among them, recognition from the New York Press Association and the Empire State School Press Association.

"He was a teacher who led by example. While working on the Hewlett Spectrum, I learned about discipline, precision and responsibility," said Dan Gregor, 28, of Los Angeles, a 2000 Hewlett graduate who was one of the paper's editors in his senior year. "Mr. Carp showed us those things every time he sat down until the wee hours of the morning, to mold our student paper into something far better."

Carp is survived by his wife of 38 years, Jane, of Woodmere; sons Benjamin Carp of Medford, Mass., Brian Carp of Manhattan and David Carp of Boulder, Colo.; father, Herbert Carp of Queens Village; and sister, Janice Negrin of Houston.

Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. today at Boulevard-Riverside Chapels, 1450 Broadway in Hewlett.