From Teaching to Running the OLS “Dining Room”
I have two older brothers and two younger brothers. And my older brothers would dare me to do silly things, so I liked a dare, and that gave me a tendency to get into a little bit of trouble when I was at OLS. In second grade, I beat up one of the boys in my class because one of my classmates had dared me. And in first grade, Oh my gosh, someone dared me to ask Sister Stephanie if she had hair. So I pulled her habit!
My favorite teacher, no question, was Sister Patricia. She was my fourth grade teacher. She was warm, she was consistent, and she listened. She wasn’t a yeller. Although I still laugh, remembering getting in trouble for talking too much.
In eighth grade, I remember one of the families had a dog that had puppies, and they raffled them off. Someone who won the raffle couldn’t take the dog, and that’s the way my family got our first dog — a German Shepherd– Lab mix.
After OLS, I went to Maria Regina for a year, and then a handful of us from OLS switched to White Plains High School.
From there I went to Gettysburg College. I majored in psychology, and then I got certified in elementary education. I taught for ten years, two years in a Catholic school in the Bronx and eight years in public school. OLS 100% influenced my teaching style. I was a regimented teacher — work had to be done a certain way, you had to do your homework, you had to write in script. I still write in script to this day — I have very good handwriting.Karen with her husband, Peter.
Another OLS thread that has run through my life is Sam’s of Gedney Way. I started working there when I was in high school when it was owned by Joe Ametrano and Carl Magnotta, and I went back after college to make some extra money. At that point Peter [Herrero] had bought Sam’s, and I played on a softball team for them with Sue O’Gorman and some others. Peter was at a game one night and that’s how we met. He had gone to White Plains High School but we hadn’t known each other back then. We got married, had three kids, and I decided to give up teaching and get to know the restaurant business because it gave me more flexible hours. Sam’s is like an extension of OLS itself. It’s like the dining room of OLS. You walk in and you just feel it. Just recently Debbie Donohoe and Katie Heyde were in; they have a book club. I said to them, ‘You know, the common thread here is OLS.’ Even if only one person from a family still lives in White Plains, somehow everybody is still connected. If you need something, we’re all there for you.
And a funny story — I’m a runner. And several years ago when I was still teaching I was running before work at about 5:30 in the morning up by St Bernard’s, and I passed this person. I did a double take, and it was Sister Patricia. And she said to me, ‘You have to call me Patsy.’ And I was like, ‘No, I don’t think so!’
OLS really shaped who I became, and I’m very grateful for that.”
o I liked a dare, and that gave me a tendency to get into a little bit of trouble when I was at OLS. In second grade, I beat up one of the boys in my class because one of my classmates had dared me. And in first grade, Oh my gosh, someone dared me to ask Sister Stephanie if she had hair. So I pulled her habit!
My favorite teacher, no question, was Sister Patricia. She was my fourth grade teacher. She was warm, she was consistent, and she listened. She wasn’t a yeller. Although I still laugh, remembering getting in trouble for talking too much.
In eighth grade, I remember one of the families had a dog that had puppies, and they raffled them off. Someone who won the raffle couldn’t take the dog, and that’s the way my family got our first dog — a German Shepherd– Lab mix.
After OLS, I went to Maria Regina for a year, and then a handful of us from OLS switched to White Plains High School.
From there I went to Gettysburg College. I majored in psychology, and then I got certified in elementary education. I taught for ten years, two years in a Catholic school in the Bronx and eight years in public school. OLS 100% influenced my teaching style. I was a regimented teacher — work had to be done a certain way, you had to do your homework, you had to write in script. I still write in script to this day — I have very good handwriting.
