Commack Middle School. A personal story from a Long Island Millennial. Thank you for reading this story of my personal experience of attending Commack Middle School. Before we
dive right in let’s go over a little bit about Commack Middle School first.
About Commack Middle School
Commack Middle School is a blue ribbon public school. Teaching 6th, 7th
and 8th grade.
Before I Attended Commack Middle School
Before
Middle School I was in 5th Grade at Burr Intermediate School. We all hear know
about the high taxes because of the school system and Superintendent Dr. James Hunderfund big fund
he created for himself. You would think the amount of money our Parents or
Guardians paid the schools would have proper heating and cooling, but this was
not the case.
During the
warmer seasons it was brutally hot inside the classrooms which would be a trend
that would follow into Commack Middle School. Although while attending Burr’s
Commack School you were rewarded for getting in trouble. All of the kids who
didn’t break the rules would have to suffer through the heat inside the
cafeterias and the outdoor recess area.
If you managed to get a minor charge
you got sentence to “Supervised Study.” Were you were forced to go to the well
air conditioned School Auditorium. Enjoying the wondering cool air you were
instructed to write a letter of apology which in my case was always a letter
furthering my plea for innocence. In retrospect they must of never read my
“apology letters.”
Commack
Middle School was not as easy as Burr Intermediate School was for many reasons.
Most of the children who entered Commack School were meeting a lot of new people. Graduating
from Burr Intermediate School, North Ridge to all come together in their 1st
schedule based education system. This is how the Commack School District worked for the most part.
Prior to
Commack Middle School most students coming from intermediate, primary to Pre
School are used to a single teacher and classroom all day, all year long. The idea of
9 periods going 45 minutes each and 5 minutes to get to their next class for
many students can be overwhelming at first. Many school
districts across Long Island, NY follow this same formula.
As I
remember a moment in my 2nd grade classroom at Indian Hollow Primary
School. My teacher was a wonderful woman who I still remember to this day for
his kindness. Her name was
Mrs. Mattel and to this day I still don’t know her first name, but I do have a
lovely inspiration letter she wrote me as we keep in touch over the years.
She really
cared about the children as many students would revisit her as on this day two
former students of hers did. They were two boys in middle school while at the
time being a 6 year old boy saw them as adults.
I remember
asking one of them “who is their teacher?” He
responded, “I have many teachers.” At the time
of course being so young I had no clue what he was talking about. Before entering Middle School most fellow students are truly unaware of the idea of
how the school day is structured differently from what they are used to.
Did I forget
to formally introduce myself? Well I know
you were probably wondering who wrote this. It could be
anyone who from the time dates I present but I decided to let you know who I am
a little deeper into the blog post. My name is Lawrence
E. Orient and was raised in Commack, NY. Only the people actually read up to
this point in my opinion earned the right to know who wrote this. Of course, I
am joking I am no better than whoever is reading this. Instead of
self-depreciating humor I like to implement the opposite I call it “Self-Inflating
Humor.” It’s meant
to make you laugh with no intention of being hubris.
You may have
never heard of it because I made it up, but give it a try it can be much more
humorous than putting yourself down. Although it
is very important to say you are using Self-Inflating Humor. Don’t forget to
mention Lawrence E. Orient created this word because he is a genius. Jokes aside
the fact that you are still reading this says you are an affectionate person.There should
be more people like you who care about being more empathetic to others. Thank you
for your kindness as it is much appreciated.
If you get
anything out of this article it is to try to listen more and be more
understanding to other people. Thank you again for reading what I have to say
as I promise it will be engaging, entertaining and I wont hold back on what I
think or feel it true.
World Events That Took Place During My Time Served At Commack Middle School
2nd millennium
When I
entered Commack Middle School it was at the start of the 2nd Millennium. My
total time served at Commack Middle School spanned from the year 2000 to 2003. As you know
in the media profiting and hyping up the world entering the New Millennium.
From Will Smith dropping music albums like Willennium to other mass media companies
grabbing for the timely profits.
To even our
local economy in Smithtown, NY by opening a Diner named The Millennium Diner. That
Diner still stands their to this day in the year 2020. You can find it on
Smithtown Main Street nearby John Stanley’s Office Supplies and The Smithtown Library. In addition
to the positive profiteers of the new Millennium there was also a lot of fear
mongers. Before the ball even dropped there was long list of potential problems
we would face in the 2nd millennium.
Millennium Problems
Y2K Apocalypse
First let us
tell you if you don’t know what does y2k mean. The meaning of Y2K is an
abbreviation for the Year 2000. This began the superstitious predictions of
what we know as the Millennium Problems.
Before the 2nd
Millennium there was a theory that all computers had the Millennium Bug. In a
quick explanation it meant that because computers were programmed by the year
of the last digits. This posed a problem because after the year 1999 the Y2K
scare was that digital bugs would create eso mass hysteria.
Just because
of some programming mistake the whole world feared that when the ball dropped
in the new Millennium all the computers would glitch and airplanes would fall
from the sky; the stock market would crash, and the end of the world would
follow. Of course we all know what happened in the year 2000 and it was no Y2K
Apocalypse.
September 11th, 2001
Sadly, we
all know what happened in the year 2001 at the beginning of the school year. The
events on that day don’t even need mentioning as it is something we never will
or can forget. All I remember is my Mom picking my up from Middle School early
that day because she thought the country was at war. In New York, the events on
that day still bring tears to our eyes after practically two decades.
Long Island,
NY is full of all types of characters from good to bad. Some make jokes about
world tragedies but joking about that day is never funny. Especially for people
from New York. I say this because many comedians like to find dark humor in
world tragedies like events during World War 2 to the assassination of John F
Kennedy.
No one in
New York jokes about that terrible day. Many comedians outside of NY like to
crack jokes about it, but in you will find no audience on Long Island or in any
part of New York State.
George W. Bush’s administration even gave us an info-graphic that he updated from time to time on how afraid we all should be.
The commoner would shake in his boots when the potential threat level went from yellow to orange! In retrospect this was ridiculous because what was the common citizen going to do with this information other than cower in their home.
In hindsight vision is 2020 because these propaganda tricks were just subliminal recruiting tools to control the masses, boost military volunteers and tricking the United States into entering the Iraq War. Well looking back we know that did a lot of good…
The Zero Tolerance Policy
In Commack
Middle School the schools administration heavily enforced a zero tolerance
school policy. In short you couldn’t get away with anything.
Kids were
getting in trouble for things you wouldn’t believe. For example, I know a group
of kids who got detention for laughing when a contained milk spilled on the
cafeteria floor.
Yes, they
told not to cry over spilled milk and but failed to tell us not laugh over it
either.
Tensions
were high with everyone on the edge of their seats. Many things were in sighting
fear in the everyday American Citizen.
How Columbine Created A McCarthyism Like State in our Schools
Before the 2nd
Millennium a horrific tragedy took place in Columbine High School. You know the
details so lets know go into what happened. Just know it was pure evil and
copycats have only spiked with each year to this very day.
School
Shootings today are so common that they happen on average almost every single
week of the year. The Zero Tolerance Policy was introduced to prevent another
Columbine but looking at the statistics our Education System failed us
terribly.
Hundreds of
innocent students’ lives have been taken in school shootings since the
Columbine Shootings. Thousands if
not millions of people are traumatized by the aftermath of all these shootings
at our public schools.
During my
times at Commack Middle School it was like the times of McCarthyism. As tens of
thousands of non-treating children’s lives were destroyed because of the fear
the may be a potential school shooter.
Famous People from Commack Middle School
During my time at Commack Middle School their were actually a few notable people who would go on to achieve celebrity in their own rights. I'll name three of the famous people that went to Commack Middle School the same time and in 2 cases the same grade as myself.
Samantha Prahalis
Sammy Prahalis was in my grade and was by far the kindest person to graduate Commack Middle School during my time. She went on to play professional Basketball for the WNBA and many other predominant Basketball leagues. During recess I remember seeing Samantha Prahalis playing basketball with the boys and destroying them without mercy. Off the basketball court she was down to earth, great sense of humor and just a good person. Anyone who knows her would agree, this is not just my opinion.
Courtney Galiano
Courtney Galiano who it looks like now goes by Courtney Platt as per IMDB became a famous dancer, actress and television personality. She was 2 grades above me so I can't speak on her character because I don't know her personally only through the rumors. From those rumors she considered one of the most popular girls in her grade. Outside of that I don't know about her enough to give more details on her.
Carly Aquilino:
Carly Aquilino was in my grade and again I didn't know her personally. She would achieve her celebrity during her time as a television personality on MTV's Girl Code. I remember having one class with her in Commack Middle School in the 6th grade. It was Math class and no one could understand the teacher because of his accent. That teach would be fired before I graduated Commack Middle School which was surprising because unless their was a scandal most teachers had great job security. In the class she would make jokes, generally self deprecating as if she wasn't smart. Playing the whole dumb blonde humor yet she is a brunette. She was like Courtney Galiano in being considered one the top popular girls of grade. Again, didn't know her personally so I won't speak on her character. She appeared to want to make people laugh and she achieved that success. Again, I don't know her personally but when she first appeared on TV many fellow Commack kids were jealous of her but not me, I was just happy to see a fellow Commackian make it.
In Conclusion
Commack Middle School was not fun because of all the teachers & politicians. Plus being bullied and being forced to learn things you didn't care about. What I want you take away from this article is this. Depending on who you are how you understand this post will vary.
Overall looking at how the Commack Middle School conducts itself today would be a far cry from how it was treated during the time myself and fellow Commack class mates did. From how they are handling situations vs the past I believe they are once again failing the students.
Want to make school better?
Stop forcing kids to remember for the short term point less knowledge. TEACH kids things they will USE IN REAL LIFE. Also give students an incentive to want to learn a subject more than getting a high grade or the hopes of getting into college so they can spend their 20's and 30's paying it off.
Finally, if you want to make Commack Middle School better I propose this necessary step. ASK THE STUDENTS OF TODAY, FUTURE AND FROM THE PAST What they think works and what doesn't. Collect that data and apply it.
Because Schools are here because we want to educate our the youth of our nation.
When did we forget this?
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