I’m madder than Bill Gates in a blackout when he’s forced to use his old Smith Corona over the stupid typos that get past me and to my editor, who then rips me a new one because he wants to send my columns through with a minimum of effort.
Look, you all know ol’Carmine bangs out this prose without using that fancy “backspace-white-out” feature they have on the latest models of for-home typesetting machines (electric or otherwise), and the only way I can be sure my copy is as clean as a G-rated movie is to look it over with my own lying eyes.
But every once in a while, a little typo gets through to the Editor-in-Chief, who’s sitting all high-and-mighty-like in his fancy office in MetroTech.
Now, I don’t need to tell you that I do have one of those phones that lets you know who’s calling so you don’t have to pick it up when that guy from the Daily News is trying to sell you a prescription. So when I get the call, I know even before I pick up the kitchen phone that I am about to get a mouthful from a guy who makes Perry White look like J. Jonah Jameson!
And that’s what happened this week.
But in the end, I thank my lucky stars I’ve got a guy looking over my every word, so when I want to honor great people like the Bensonhurst West End Community Council’s Woman of the Year, her name gets printed correctly: Connie Hamilton.
Now, the reason I point this out is because of an egregious error I made when spelling Connie’s name in my first draft. I don’t want to write down what I accidentally wrote, because you all know how the Google does wacky things when you search someone’s name. So let’s just say that, when typing with my two index fingers, I accidentally hit the “M” instead of the “N.” I’ll leave the math on this one up to you, but I think you can easily figure out what it wrote. Ok, let me give you a hint: “Commie.”
So, thank goodness for editors, and now, a bit more about Connie.
She was born in Brooklyn, where she attended PS 177, David A. Boody Middle School, and Edward R. Murrow HS where she grew up knowing she wanted to give back to the community.
To that end, Connie has been an educator and supervisor in the public school system since 1984, when she first began working with special education students in Sheepshead Bay. From there, Connie earned master’s degrees in reading and supervision. Connie went on to serve as an adjunct professor and supervisor in the early childhood program at Kingsborough Community College, as well as an instructional specialist with the UFT Teacher Center.
Connie was an assistant principal at Concord HS on Staten Island, and was the director of new small schools for BASIS High Schools. Connie was named as a regional instructional specialist for Region 7 in 2003, which she held until 2005 when she became a founding principal of Kingsborough Early College Secondary School at Lafayette HS.
The school, which opened in 2006, offers a unique educational experience where students can earn an associate’s degree free of charge while still enrolled in high school. They earn college credits through Kingsborough Community College as early as the summer they are going into ninth grade.
I first met Connie when I sat (which, of course, is my preferred state) as an alumni adviser at Kingsborough Community College.
Family is of the utmost importance to Connie; it is truly because of her family that she has accomplished so much personally and professionally. She married her husband, Mitchell, in 1985 and together they have raised three beautiful children, Jessica, Ryan, and Louis.
She is incredibly grateful for the love and support they have shown her over the years as she has devoted so much time and energy to meeting the needs of children other than her own. Connie is also grateful to her parents, Barbara and Louis, for having shaped her childhood with warmth and love and for teaching her to never give up on herself or her dreams. Connie would also like to recognize her stepfather Peter for the openness with which he and his family welcomed her.
Finally, Connie would like to thank her staff. She is honored to spend each and every day working alongside such talented, dedicated professionals. Without their help, her dream of building the school could never have been realized.
And even more finally, Connie would like to thank all of the individuals responsible for the honor that has been bestowed upon her.
She is truly grateful for having been recognized as the Woman of the Year by the Bensonhurst West End Community Council. So do join us in on March 22 at the incomparable El Caribe, when we fete Connie and her distinguished and deserving co-honorees. E-mail me at Diegovega@aol.com for dinner reservations.
Screech at you next week!
Read Carmine Santa Maria's screech every Saturday on BrooklynDaily.com.