A belated thanks to my students
East Islip High cheerleaders under the direction of Jane R. Sarcona, at left rear. She taught health there in the 1970s and '80s. Credit: Photo by Jane R. Sarcona
Retired East Islip High School teacher Jane R. Sarcona lives on Jekyll Island, Ga.
"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And, why are you waiting?" -- Author Stephen Levine
I saw that quote recently, and, while not planning on dying soon, I decided not to wait.
This is a very belated letter (instead of a call) to the students who were in my health classes at East Islip High School from 1972 to 1988. I would like to thank them for 16 wonderful years.
If I had written a description of the perfect job for me, it would have been teaching those students at that time. Was I always interesting and challenging? Absolutely not! Did some of you let me know that? Absolutely yes!
We laughed, we were silly and sometimes downright stupid.
We practiced CPR on a Resusci Anne doll. Sometimes a joker tied a string to Annie's arm to make it fly up -- to scare the person trying to revive her. That training was crucial, however, when some of my students, using CPR, saved a man at a local country club. Years later, with her lung capacity pumped out, Annie was laid to rest in a school courtyard as "Taps" was played.
There were so many lessons learned, like the time students pushed a car from Bay Shore to East Islip because the driver had been drinking. We visited the residents of the Suffolk Developmental Center in Melville to learn about mental disabilities. We learned about the pain and joy of recovery from speakers who described struggles with alcohol and drugs. We learned that "there is no safe time" to have sex. We cried at the deaths of a beloved student and a beloved teacher.
Health classes brought together students from across the academic and social spectrum. The class agreed that whatever was shared in class stayed there. As a result, we discussed and learned to respect differences in each other: "school smart" versus "street smart," sexual preferences, views on abortion and even religion.
In lieu of homework, students spent thousands of hours coaching Little League, helping at day care centers, and visiting nursing home residents. As the adviser, I admired the editors and staff who worked so hard on "The Redmen" yearbooks.
There were crazy trips with the school band. One moment the spirited students were rocking the bus until we felt seasick, and the next, the chaperones on the trip witnessed their transformation into uniformed, mature young adults playing in competition.
Most especially, I will never forget my talented, loving cheerleaders. I knew nothing about cheerleading, but said yes when they needed a coach. The cheerleaders actually coached one another and stamped the loudest of any squad in Suffolk County. We spent long hours together during football and basketball seasons and became a family (along with my husband, who was always there with us).
I thoroughly loved my time at East Islip. My heartfelt thanks (and warm fuzzies) to every one of you.
