Geraldine Solano DeAngelis

After graduating from A.B. Davis High School, I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology. In 1959 I received an A.A.S. degree from F.I.T. and worked in the fashion industry until 1963 when my daughter Nancy was born, In 1960 I enrolled in Lehman College (part time) to work towards my Bachelor’s Degree in Education and then went on to Queens College for a M.S. Degree in Home Economics Education. In 1977, 20 years after graduating, I returned to A.B. Davis High School (which has become a middle school) to teach home economics. I taught there for 27 years and retired in 2004. Presently, I substitute teach when I am not traveling. My two grandchildren are Timothy age 14 and Elizabeth age 16. While I was a student at A.B. Davis, a home economics teacher, Ms. Redmond, directed me towards a career in fashion design which later led me into  teaching. During my “study hall” time I would go up to her room on the 4^th floor to use a sewing machine because the one I had at home was not working properly. At that time, I was majoring in business subjects, but she encouraged me to attend F.I.T. instead of pursuing a secretarial career. I followed her advice. Upon graduating from F.I.T., I went to work in the fashion industry. It was then I realized I would rather teach home economics than design clothes and returned to school for certification. There were many times during my teaching career at Davis that I would reminisce with students and staff members about what the building was like when I attended it as A.B. Davis High School. I would tell them that back in the 50’s home economics was taught on the 4^th floor and only girls could attend home economics classes. The girl’s gym was also on the 4^th floor and we had to walk down a fired escape to play outside on the back field. While I was teaching at Davis, the 4^th floor was used only for storage purposes. The A.B. Davis building has been a very big part of my life, not just as a high school, but also for a 27-year teaching career. I have lots of fond memories of all those years.