Teacher’s Dad Delivers
LI History Lesson
When J. Taylor Finley Middle School social studies teacher Angela Whitfield wanted to bring in a guest speaker to discuss local history with seventh graders she turned to someone she knows very well; her father.
Gerry Whitfield spent 38 years teaching social studies in the South Huntington school district. He’s been retired for the past 12 years, but his love of history has never been stronger.
Mr. Whitfield recently commanded the small stage in the Finley LGI (large group instruction) room, the formal name of the school’s auditorium. The visit was delayed several times by snowstorms, but when it finally came off, the veteran educator was on his game.
“My dad was able to talk to over 350 seventh grade students on early local Town of Huntington history from Native Americans to the American Revolution,” Ms. Whitfield said. “After 38 years of teaching and 12 years of retirement, he came and spoke like he never left for two periods. The students enjoyed him as much as the adults. During the last few minutes, students were decoding a spy sentence from the Culper Spy Ring.”
Mr. Whitfield, who once penned the curriculum for South Huntington’s Long Island History course, most certainly hasn’t lost his touch with young people. He’s a walking encyclopedia on Huntington history and a sensational storyteller to boot.
“He has thousands of slides on historical Long Island, which he has placed on discs and he can give a talk on pretty much any town,” Ms. Whitfield said. “With decades of classroom teaching experience, he has stories that go beyond just the books; including about Nathan Hale and how he didn’t fit the description of an Englishman, being 6’5 and good looking with no pox marks on his face and being so honest that when asked if he was a spy, he said yes.”
Mr. Whitfield’s spellbinding storytelling wove a series of fascinating tales for the seventh graders. For example, he discussed how Huntington Station came to be known as a result of the Long Island Railroad stop on New York Avenue and even highlighted famous local family names.
There was a time when Finley seventh graders went on a local walking tour through Huntington, but such a trek is not scheduled to occur this year. “I felt bringing my dad to Finley for a presentation about local history was the next best thing,” Ms. Whitfield said.