| DECEMBER 11, 2010 -- Former Oxford educator Mike Angelini has vivid memories of teaching in local public schools, and in Oxford Grange Hall.
He remembers the day President Kennedy was assassinated and how his classroom fell silent. "They took it pretty bad," he said.
And he remembers the good times, such as when a student played a practical joke on him by bringing a toy into the class and making it moo like a cow, causing Angelini to search the school grounds looking for a cow before returning to the sound of booming laughter from his students.
Though he taught in Oxford for a total of 16 years, two as a principal, Angelini has a lifetime of memories of his students, coworkers and the community, where he is now the town's treasurer. He has documented many of those memories in a taped interview with the Oxford Historical Society, which is videotaping the experiences of Oxford residents who have vivid and interesting stories to tell about Oxford's past.
Angelini's story shows exactly how much the community, and its school system, has grown and changed over the past 60 years.
Teaching in the Grange Hall
His first job in Oxford was teaching at Oxford Center School in 1956.
Oxford was building the new campus buildings, but did not finish them before the start of the school year. So the Board of Education improvised, locating the extra classes in buildings in the center of town.
For three months, Angelini taught in the upstairs of the Oxford Grange Hall, while Mr. Bosick taught in the basement.
"It made a heck of a classroom, but it was a most enjoyable experience," Angelini said.
Angelini, who served in the military before becoming a teacher in 1952, taught sixth grade, history, geography, math and civics. He recalls his students fondly, saying they were intelligent and respectful.
He recalls having a class of 35 pupils - much higher than most classrooms these days, which top out at about 25 - but he says it was not a problem because the students were respectful and well-behaved.
"That's when teachers were the boss," he said.
Though Oxford schools didn't have much in terms of organized sports, the staff made sure students got physical activity. The faculty would play softball with the student body, and sometimes engaged their children in basketball and other activities.
Most weeks they had dances on Friday evenings, a practice that has turned into once of twice a year in the middle and high schools. But times were much different then, when most of community-life truely revolved around schools.
"It was a cozy little atmosphere that we had at the Oxford school system," Angelini recalled. "The girls would come (to the dances) in dresses; the boys dressed in a manner that made you proud."
Other extracurricular activities include an art club led by Mrs. Grace Dunning. John Quirke had a science club, and Angelini ran a woodworking club.
Other changes in district include that the schools were under jurisdiction of the State of Connecticut. As the system grew and the town took over leadership of schools, Edmund J. Schade, who was principal of Oxford Center School when Angelini started, became superintendent of schools, and Angelini became the principal.
Angelini left Oxford for Derby, saying the salary in Derby was better.
The infamous and mysterious cow
Although he left, there is one story from Oxford that will stay with Angelini forever.
"The classroom was very quiet...I was lecturing and I heard this cow," he said. "And I am saying to myself, 'We're in the middle of town, where did a cow come from?'"
The cow mooed for a second time, then a third. Mr. Schade walked in, and he too heard the cow, Angelini said.
"We walked outside checking the backyard," he said. "It was a classroom that on both sides there were openings where a cow could graze."
They went back into the room and the children were roaring with laughter.
Eventually, they told him about the toy that made the sound. Angelini still remembers the culprit: Shirley Rzeszutek.
She was "the nicest kid in the world," he said. "She would never do anything wrong. I couldn't get angry with her because it was funny."
As a testament to the kind of rapport he developed with the children, one of Angelini's former students recently sent him a toy cow as a present.
"To this day I have to smile and laugh when I think about it," he said. "Shirley got me good"
Changes in town
Angelini noted he's seen some big changes in Oxford. He mentioned the development of a new high school and senior center, and said he's looking forward to a new library, which he said the town desperately needs.
He can remember back when the current library, which is cramped and overloaded with books, was a welcome change after years of being housed at the Oxford Center Fire House.
"It was a little rinky-dinky thing," he said, adding that the community will continue to grow and the library on the first floor of Town Hall will continue to be way too small in years to come.
Asked what he expected Oxford to become in the next 20 years, Angelini said, "I can well imagine that the school population is going to be tremendously large." He also believes the town will become one of the larger communities in the Naugatuck Valley area.
And though the school system will continue to grow, Angelini will never forget teaching on the top floor of a Grange Hall and searching high and low for a cow that didn't exist. |
