Dear Commons Community,
On this Father’s Day, I remember my father, Amadeo, who died in 1973 at the age of 64. He worked very hard in the warehouses on 12th Avenue in Manhattan. When he came home from work, he was totally exhausted, had dinner, and would fall asleep on the couch for the rest of the evening. He never owned a car and never had a vacation other than to visit relatives on Long Island or in New Jersey. Our big treat for the year was a day trip to Coney Island. We lived with aunts, uncles, and cousins in my grandmother’s house in the South Bronx on 152nd Street and Morris Avenue. There was never a lack of love or attention for me and my two brothers as we were growing up. One thing my father encouraged was that school was important and we had to go to college. We did.
Thank you, Dad!
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
Interesting to read about your childhood and background and see what you have achieved. Your father was right. education is important. I understand your motivation and commitment to the education of others. It is inspiring to read these stories.
It is also inspiring to hear and see best practices. That is why some of my colleagues from my department have visited your University. Their visit was from 19 to 21 May to learn from Paul Attewell and Philip Kasinitz about the Pathways project at CUNY and from Frank Tuitt about the Inclusive Excellence framework. My colleagues came back full of inspiration and new ideas, what inspires me and my colleagues again.
Erik Falkink
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
Department for Education & Quality
Erik,
Thank you for your posting. It was quite kind of you.
Paul Attewell is on our faculty in Urban Education and has done a lot of good work on college completion. He is also developing an interest in online learning. Pathways has been a bit controversial mainly in the way it was presented and implemented by the CUNY Board of Trustees.
Tony
“One thing my father encouraged was that school was important and we had to go to college.”