You may have heard that familiar whistle and hum as you walk up the stairs…or through the main hallway…or past room 306.

The 2011-2012 school year marks Mr. Garone’s fiftieth year of teaching in the building that he has called his “sanctuary” ever since he taught his first class.

Before arriving here, he began his teaching career at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, where he crossed paths with Superintendent Mr. Sulc for the first time.

“I met Mr. Garone when I was a freshman in high school. He was a teacher at the Bishop Loughlin. All freshmen received one study hall per week and he was my study hall teacher,” Sulc said.

Sulc reflected on Mr. Garone’s presence as a new teacher, believing that he has continued his ways ever since.

“I never had him as a classroom teacher. He taught World History, and he was known there as an outstanding teacher, but a very strong and firm educator–and he still is,” he said.

“It was a learning experience, and I was a teacher, look at that,” Garone said, as he reflected back to his first years of teaching.

The two both described the encounter as just a coincidental act of fate stepping in, although neither of them knew they would cross paths again for a while.

It was 1962 when Mr. Garone came for a job interview at MHS, with two job interviews for Levittown and Hicksville scheduled just a few minutes after. Massapequa was the first stop on his list that day, and he came prepared for his interview with the Superintendent at the time.

“I had a ten minute conversation with him, and then I said ‘Could you tell me where Levittown is?’” he said. “I told him I had an appointment there in ten minutes, so I asked him if he could please expedite matters.”

“Then he told me that I wasn’t leaving the office until I had signed a contract, ‘I don’t want to lose you,’ is what he said to me,” Garone continued.

On that day, he began his first year as a European History teacher, and eventually AP World History, AP U.S History teacher, and now a Government and Economics teacher.

“Eventually, I became Chairman, and then I became Coordinator,” he said. “It was like my fifteen minutes of fame.”

Mr. Sulc remembered these “fifteen minutes,” too, noting that this was the time when the two encountered each other yet again.

“Social Studies and Math shared an office,” Mr. Sulc said. “When he was assigned to the high school here from Berner High School, I welcomed him into the office, and it took off from there.”

“We got into a conversation about how I was a student at Bishop Loughlin; he didn’t remember me–but I remembered him,” he said.

Though he never became personally acquainted with Mr. Garone, or as he called him, “Vinny,” Mr. Sulc came to know everyone’s favorite teacher through sharing the office.

“He is a funny, funny guy,” Sulc said. “He talks about his trips to China, he talks about his family, and he’ll talk about growing olive groves in Italy one day. He is one of the most interesting people out there.”

Indeed, from my twenty-minute conversation with him, I felt that I had read a book from cover to cover–Mr. Garone is certainly interesting.

Perhaps the reason why our conversation felt so natural was because of his outlook on the curriculum.

“Social Studies is a way in which you can converse with people,” he said. “I’ve traveled the world–Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East–you share stories with people, you learn about history, and you create it.”

If there’s one thing that is certain, it is that Mr. Garone has made history in this building. As he reflected on the teaching style that he has created throughout the last fifty years, he focused on the idea of adaptation, and that we must become accustomed to what is old and what is new all at once.

“I think teaching, in society, is a very important factor,” he said. “I think you can shape individuals, or points of view. You gain many insights into people.”

“I’ve had many different students and many different philosophies and many different religions, and I’ve been able to adapt to them,” he said. “I balance what is old with what is new and I go from there.”

He emphasized the atmosphere in his classroom, saying that he often gives “extreme leeways,” not because he is going easy on his students, but because he wants them to be able to have those leeways and continue to be responsible with them.

“It’s interesting to feel that you want it. Today, many students have instant gratification–they look at their phones and their computers, and that’s it. Years ago, students were really studious. I teach as though you are in a college classroom–you complete the class on your own terms,” Garone said. “But I am not your friend; I am not your buddy, though I will never squelch a student’s idea. I want them to think for themselves.”

While learning about his teaching style, Mr. Garone made sure that I understood that he truly cares for his students and his coworkers. When asked if it has felt as though fifty years had gone by, his response was given without a second thought.

“Oh, certainly not,” he said.

As far as leaving MHS, Garone was taken aback by the question, saying that he hasn’t even given it a single thought.

“I don’t believe I will leave teaching because someone’s going to tell me I have to leave. I will leave on my own time, when I want to leave, and on my own terms. If I feel that in the long run I am no longer able to communicate with my students, I will stop, and walk away,” he said. “But I’m not even thinking about it yet.”

And as the conversation came to a close, he left me with three simple words.

“I love teaching.”