Sunday, January 28, 2018

NPHS Reunion Interview: Barbara Green Elbeze, Class of 1969

Barbara Green Elbeze and her husband Fernand share a love of biking in foreign lands.  Here they are in a 2012 trip to Costa Rico.  

Barbara Green Elbeze retired in 2008 after 27 years in Alexandria City (VA) schools.  Her career in education totaled 35 years as a teacher and administrator, from full time teaching middle and high school level English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) and Spanish. However, she continues to work in her community in many ways such as teaching ESOL and Spanish for Fairfax County adult community education programs, tutoring, working as a teacher-support specialist for her religious school, supervising student-teachers in their MA programs for two universities  (GWU and JMU) and assisting a Class Manager for jazzercise.  She also volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.  Whew!   She and her Parisian husband of 40 years Fernand Elbeze live Fairfax, VA, a metro ride of only 12 miles from the White House. She lived in the DMV (District, MD VA) area from 1969-1975, until finishing grad school.  Then Barbara lived for seven years in the Monticello, NY, area. In 1984, she and her husband moved back to Virginia to raise their two daughters and have been there ever since. She met Fernand at a kibbutz in Israel in 1976.  They love to travel and they are especially passionate about bike tours to different countries.  In fact, she is returning from a bike tour in Greece the day before the reunion (Oct. 5) and may be too jet-lagged to attend. 

What was your sense of community in your class/in the school at NPHS?  
I definitely felt a spirit of community and connection to everyone in our class, whether or not we were in the same classes or not. We were encouraged to participate in sports, clubs, social activities and to mix up with everyone.  At least I felt that way. We knew each other since kindergarten in some cases and when the “East End” met the “West End” and the Catholic schools, we just merged and all became friends.

What experiences in high school, positive or negative, helped to shape you as a person? 
Growing up in North Plainfield, helped make me the tolerant, open, and multiculturally sensitive person I have become.  Our town was the original “multicultural” one. My friends were all from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Different languages were spoken at home, different foods cooked, but all of us became the melting pot.  Our dreams and aspirations were given wings by our teachers and we were given confidence to pursue them.  They gave us great courses, challenging learning situations, and the tools to help us manage the rigors of studying without the stress.  As an educator, I realize how those NPHS teachers helped mold me into the teacher and member of my community that I became.    

Do you have any regrets about your experiences during your high school years
I wish I had been more of an “activist” but I suppose I didn’t have the confidence to be a leader then. I was developing and at least I felt enough self-esteem to continue to grow in college and beyond. I wish girls had had the opportunity to play the sports like the boys, but GAA (Girls’ Athletic Association) helped keep me “in the game.”

Now, 50 years later, has your perspective on your high school years changed at all?  If so, how? 
Yes, I treasure those memories and realize that it was an important chapter in my life that I will never forget!  We were naïve, awkward, inexperienced, but we were still “us.”

What is your fondest memory of your years at NPHS?   I loved so many classes and teachers, but I remember the “Great Books” discussions we had with Ms. O’Brien.  We really began to do higher level thinking and developed those skills that helped us in college and life!

What was the craziest or stupidest thing you did in high school?  Once I got “drunk” before a canteen dance.  According to the friends I was with, I kissed one of the teachers and acted totally silly.  I was so ashamed because I felt the worst punishment would be that I had dashed my chances of being inducted in the National Honor Society!!  Imagine that.  But, I was inducted senior year anyway.

What was your proudest accomplishment in high school?  
I enjoyed languages so much (and still do, of course) and I was thrilled to be able to take two languages my junior and senior year. (Spanish and French) I accelerated myself over the summer to go from French 1 to 3 while taking Spanish 5 and loving it. I actually tutored the French 1 students for the teacher in that class. (Ms. Harford).

Who was your favorite teacher? 
Undoubtedly it was Mr. Kianese, who became a role model for me. I had him for four years and was never bored, always challenged in his classes.  He inspired me to major in Spanish undergrad and the foundation he gave me was instrumental in being selected for a fellowship from University of Maryland for my first MA.  I once wrote a paper about him and his influence on my teaching style and love of Spanish.   

What was your worst class? 
I hated math, but never felt like it was the teacher’s fault. Not being astute enough to take Calculus senior year, I went into a Probability and Statistics class over at “Harrison” school. That’s the only class I ended up spending more time skipping, in the bathroom, (with Paula LaCosta) and not in the classroom because it was SO boring.  I can’t remember the teacher, but his lessons were so lackluster that he put me to sleep!  (maybe Mr. Pritchard?)

What is your most powerful or haunting memory during your years at NPHS?
I remember the decade of the 60’s and going to school in such a volatile time.  In fact, I remember 6th grade and hearing about the Cuban Missile Crisis on the PA and being scared out of our minds with our teachers in that building. The assassinations, the Vietnam War, the protests, Woodstock, the hippies.  It was all in our time. I remember one of our classmates’ brothers who died in Vietnam.  He was the only son in that family with three daughters. I was friendly with the youngest girl (Faye Baranoski) who was in our class and it broke my heart when we learned the news of his passing. It made it real to us and then going to college in DC it all became even more “real” but I was then in the middle of it all.   

How did growing up at a child of the 60s – and all the social baggage and impact that it may have entailed – impact you at the time and in your young adult years? 

I think it made me a thinker, a do-er, and more altruistic.  I read, watched, observed others, and tried to find my own niche and style.  It was a fascinating time and one that made us care about others and the world.  Hope we never lose that ideal!
Barbara (seated) in 1975 teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages.

Monday, January 22, 2018

NPHS Reunion Interview: Barrie Dempsey, Class of 1969

Music is his life:  Barrie Dempsey, performing in 2016 at Cuyamaca College in southern California.

After spending most of his career in the retail music business as a manager, Barrie Dempsey retired in 2014 to pursue his songwriting career (check out his website:
www.barriedempsey.com).  Prior to retirement, Barrie was an American-Lighting-Association-certified residential lighting specialist.  When he lived in Springfield, OR, he taught drawing, created art, and sold pianos.   After graduating college, he moved to San Diego where he lived for more than 30 years.  It was in San Diego that he met his wife Shannon at the Aquarius roller skating rink. He’s lived in other Western cities incuding Eugene, OR, and Avondale, AZ.  Currently, he lives in Salem, OR, where he and his wife are looking to buy some land and a house. 

What was your sense of community in your class/in the school at NPHS?  
My community was outside of NPHS. I did not have the best experience in school. I was bullied because I had long hair, which I still have.  I was motivated by my music that I was pursuing outside of high school.

What experiences in high school, positive or negative, helped to shape you as a person? 
I think I have blocked out a lot my high school experiences. I don’t remember a lot about them positive or negative.

Do you have any regrets about your experiences during your high school years? 
I feel like the only regrets I have is that I didn’t put more effort into my studies and that I didn’t fight back more when pushed around.

Now, 50 years later, has your perspective on your high school years changed at all?  If so, how? 
High school was a tough time for me and I feel that will always be my perspective.

What was your worst class? 
Math
  
How did growing up at a child of the 60s – and all the social baggage and impact that it may have entailed – impact you at the time and in your young adult years? 

I was a hippie in a high school consisting primarily of jocks and greasers.  I couldn’t wait till it was over. My interests were music and girls. It was a wonderful time for both.
Hair!  Barrie Dempsey (far left....and far out, man) hanging out on the steps of the Plainfield YMCA with his girlfriend and two friends in a photo from the late 60s.