Andrea Frisenda Rides into Retirement
When the final bell sounds on Friday, June 26, Andrea Frisenda will exit Woodhull Intermediate School as a faculty member for the final time. She’s retiring from teaching after a career that saw her ply her trade in three different Long Island district.
Ms. Frisenda’s career kicked off in the Uniondale school district, where she was a sixth grade teacher. She later worked as a substitute for three years in South Huntington before coming to Huntington in 1995.
The soon-to-be retiree has taught on the fifth and sixth grade levels here, including the last ten years with special education inclusion teacher Chris Dugan. Colleagues say the two have come to complement each other. “We developed a classroom spirit called the ‘Frisenda/Dugan class family,” Ms. Frisenda said.
A 1970 graduate of SUNY College at Oneonta, Ms. Frisenda earned a master’s degree at Hofstra University in 1974. She’s been a key player at Woodhull School, where she helps coordinate a massive pasta dinner each year for hundreds of parents and students.
“I’ll always remember observing students working together and assisting each other with classroom activities,” Ms. Frisenda said. “The development and strengthening of social skills is so important today. Each child is unique. Students need to know what is expected of them. They need parameters and to feel comfortable in the classroom before they can become risk-takers.”
“Andrea is just a super lady and a great teacher,” Mr. Dugan told about 125 parents at a PTA luncheon earlier this month. “We have worked so well together. She does great things with her students.”
Over the course of her Huntington career, Ms. Frisenda worked with three principals, Joan Skelly, Sean O’Connell and Kenneth Card, along with many “wonderful colleagues.” Trips to Medieval Times and Camp Greenkill produced “wonderful memories,” she said, and “watching the students in their roles as waiters and waitresses for the pasta dinner truly showed school spirit.”
Known as the consummate professional, Ms. Frisenda has been presenting carefully crafted lessons right through her final days in the classroom. She leaves behind some words of wisdom, too. “My advice to parents would be to keep an active role in their child’s education,” Ms. Frisenda said. “Communication between parents and teachers is extremely important. Parental support is another vital factor for a child’s success.”
She hopes to lead an active life in retirement, with family and friends close by. Why call it a career now? Well, the time seemed right.
“Over the years I enjoyed having student teachers and mentoring new teachers,” Ms. Frisenda said. “Brooke Bene was one of my student teachers. Presently, Mr. Dugan and I have a student observer, Grace Fulton, a junior from Sacred Heart University. Grace Fulton was a student in our first inclusion class. Having her as an observer truly gives meaning to things coming full circle.”
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