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| Kathy Miller Senna, June 2018, at the studio in North Carolina where she teaches Zumba |
Describe your career:
After high school I went to East Stroudsburg State College, (now ESU) as a Health & Physical education major and graduated in January 1973. I was a substitute teacher at North Plainfield for months, and I taught one year at Bound Brook High School when Bud Porter called me to offer me a position at NPHS which I was delighted to take. I taught Health and Physical Education at the HS/middle school, and then taught the last six years at East End elementary school! I also went to Kean University for a Master’s in Early Childhood, Family Life, and then a Master’s in Exercise Science. I retired in 2009.
I married Rich Senna in 1975. We bought a house in North Plainfield and raised three sons. They all went to East End school and graduated from NPHS. After I retired I babysit teacher's kids for 3 years until Rich retired from the Steamfitter's Union and we moved to Wilmington, NC, in 2012. We love it here and are both volunteer coaches for first Tee Golf, (we live in a golf community) and besides golfing, I teach Zumba. We have two grandsons and two granddaughters!
Who were your friends in high school?
Because I was active in Girls Athletic Association, modern dance, cheerleading and choral groups, I had many friends! In middle school Vicky Olsen and Kris Delunas were my best buds to hang with, and then in high school Karen Von Tish became my closest friend and we still keep in touch. Of course, having Rich as a boyfriend since our sophomore year, I hung out with all his buddies from the west end a lot; Donny Thompson, Bob Krusman, Jim Weyant from the Townsend Place gang! Because I lived and taught in North Plainfield for so many years I have so many friends from other classes that I count among my friends!!
Do you have any regrets from your high school years?
NONE! I can only think of about the many great teachers and all the extra-curricular activities that I was so fortunate to experience, and directly influenced me to become a teacher.
What’s your fondest memory from high school?
Nancy Schuman's modern dance performances, Stage Band & singers, But...being King & Queen of the Prom had to be the most exciting thing at that time in my life! (and happy to say we are still happily married!) I know, so corny!! LOL!
What’s the craziest thing you did in high school?
I once found an unopened pack of cigarettes and secretly smoked the entire pack on my back porch, alone, over a period of six months or more...yeah, weird... but I never became a smoker, thankfully! (How could I have lived that down as a health teacher?)
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Being inducted into National Honor Society since I was not in honor classes!
Who was your favorite teacher?
Nancy Schuman. She showed me that you can be athletic, strong and feminine and she was a role model for me as I ultimately decided to become a Physical Education teacher!
What was your worst class?
History. As much as I loved Ed Stec and his class, I just could not remember names and dates of wars etc.! Ugh!
What was your most haunting memory of your high school years?
Like so many of us, I remember cringing when I heard gun shots from the Plainfield riots. It was very frightening.
How did growing up as 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 very naive and oblivious to so much, (even though my brother was a "hippie.”) I was probably the last person to break down and buy bellbottoms, I was slow to changes. I believe my experiences were like two sides of the same coin...I believed in empowerment (don't tell me I can't do something!) versus hating violence!! I was not the type to go out and protest, but I was, and am a peace-loving person and the eternal optimist! Just ask Rich!!!
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| Rich Senna and Kathy in 1974 on a trip to Wilkes-Barre, PA, visiting Bob Krusman and his wife. |
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