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By Carmine Santa Maria
Brooklyn Daily
I’m madder than a criminal on the lam who gets caught because he complained to the Post Office that his name was misspelled on his wanted poster over the fact that celebrities today are only interested in themselves and their own precious fame, and don’t care at all about the communities that prop them up for doing such important acts as looking pretty or handsome.
Look, you all know the ol’Screecher is a big fan of Hollywood’s golden age, when men were men and women were women and you were allowed to smoke in an elevator. But I don’t need to tell you nowadays you can’t smoke in an elevator, and stars don’t know how to act in public.
Take, for instance, this Lindsey Lohan character. Why is it that every time I pick up my beloved New York Post I’m forced to read about her latest alcohol-fueled antics on page 3? And how about that Charlie Sheen, telling everyone that he’ll make sure she “wins” if she simply takes his advice? I don’t have any idea what his idea of “winning” is, but he hasn’t done much of it since his role as Matt in the original “Red Dawn” (which was a great movie). Why they had to remake that classic, I’ll never know.
I long for the day when our stars like the late John Wayne taught us how to act, and showed us the true meaning of character. These guys, they couldn’t ride sidesaddle next to a real man like that.
That brings us to this week’s hero of the week.
Allow me to offer you Antonella Bove’s credentials as to why she was chosen to be the Bensonhurst West End Civic Council’s (BWECC!) “Woman of the Year,” but I will first interject that she came from good Italian stock that immigrated here from Italy and stressed to their children the importance of a college education. She and her sisters listened to mama and papa’s words and their insistence towards education blossomed akin to legendary Johnny Appleseed spewing education apples across the country, and, most importantly, Brooklyn.
Antonella has been with the Department of Education since 1987. She started her career as a teacher at PS 217 in district 22. After several years in the classroom, she took on the role as a Resource Specialist for PS 217’s Magnet Program. She then continued her career as the coordinator of distance satellite learning for district 22. Under the leadership of Mr. Comer, the former superintendent of district 22, she worked with a team to videotape model lessons throughout the district. These lessons were televised via satellite for professional development.
After three years as coordinator, she became an assistant principal at PS 52 in district 22. After seven years at PS 52, she decided to become the educational leader of PS 215. She has been the proud principal of PS 215 in district 21 for the last five years. The entire school community works very closely with Antonella to make sure that children always come first.
When not at work, Antonella spends time traveling to Europe and taking cruises. She is a proud parent of a beautiful Maltese, Snowball Bello. She has incredible support from her family and has been blessed with three wonderful nephews and two beautiful nieces. As Antonella puts it, they are her inspiration in life.
Her passion for school started at a very young age, when her parents stressed the importance of a college education. They encouraged their three daughters to never stop going to school. Years later, as an educational leader, Antonella is always thinking of their words, and how they have been the reason for her success.
Besides Antonella being honored as Woman of the Year, BWECC! Educator of the Year is Neal Opromalla, the network leader of Children First. As mentioned previously, Linda Dalton is the Parent of the Year and Kiwanians Nydia and Joe Corace are Couple of the Year. Brian Gotlieb is BWECC Humanitarian of the Year and my longtime neighbor and good friend Sid Schatzman is the Man of the Year. These dynamic groups of honorees are to be feted at the EL Caribe. E-mail me at Diegovega@aol.com for dinner reservations so you too can cheer them on!
Screech at you next week!
Read Carmine's screech every Saturday on BrooklynDaily.com. E-mail him at diegovega@aol.com.