Mrs. Scarpino was my 3rd grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary, 1978. I don't remember much about 3rd grade, except on St. Patrick's day, using me to make some (now long forgotten) religious statement, my parents refused to let me wear green.
When she saw early in the day, all of the taunting and pinching I had in store, she pulled me into the coat room (those open floor plans didn't allow for much privacy or door closing) and tried to figure out what was going on. She asked my why I didn't wear green, and I tried to explain it to her, but much like myself to this day, religious intolerance and extremism didn't seem to make sense to her. "Charlee? Can you keep a secret?" she asked me ever so slyly. I nodded that I could. She told me to wait there, and she would be right back.
When she returned she brought 5 things in a little tote. Green construction paper, stiff oak tag paper, scissors, glue and a safety pin. She and I cut out a large rectangle of the green paper, glued to it a smaller rectangle of the oak tag, with my name written on it in green. After the quick assembly of her makeshift pinch preventer, she pinned it to my shirt. Standing back and perhaps admiring her solution, she sternly asked if I knew where Mrs. Straub's Kindergarten room was. I assured her I did. "Good," she said, "Mrs. Straub will need an assistant with her classes today, and I volunteered you. Don't mess around."
Of the many kindness shown to me by teachers and school staff over the years when dealing with some often bizarre religious demands from my household, this was perhaps the kindest, because it taught me to think outside of the box, and create both my own solutions and to find and identify allies in my teachers. She picked me up on a bad day that could have gotten a lot worse, and she showed some strength, courage and creativity, and instead of letting me feel like a victim, she sent me to a classroom where I could learn to be a leader. I am eternally in the debt of this wise, wise woman.
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