While graduation is right around the corner, 34 graduates of Massapequa High School and Berner High School returned to Ames Campus to speak with ninth-graders about their careers and to impart some wisdom as to how to plan for their futures.
Long-time Massapequa resident and class of 1979 graduate Assemblyman Joseph Saladino, makes it a point to come every year.
“This is a wonderful way to give back,” he said. “The kids learn about different careers, it clearly broadens their perspective in terms of their life goals, their work careers, what they would like to achieve. It gives them that guidance, people to model after. It gives them ideas to key in on what we bring to the table and how we got to our place in life. It’s also great to back to be in a school you have so many wonderful memories of.”
One of the directors of the program is Kate Knoepffler, alumni career day coordinator guidance counselor at Massapequa Ames.
“This program is important because the ninth graders are really starting to explore careers, college readiness and their futures for the first time,” she said. “This is a great way to bring all of the alumni together to have an event where they can hear from people who have been through Massapequa Schools and they can share a little bit about their careers to start sparking some interest in the students.”
The morning kicked off with a large student assembly with Dr. Mark Testaiuti, a 1981 graduate who is now a neurosurgeon practicing in New Jersey. He showed the students his class pictures and shared his experiences growing up. He showed the students slides of his work and described the career path that led him into neurosurgery. He said that he was a student just like them; he didn’t grow up rich and his parents were working class, but he learned to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities provided to him by the Massapequa school district.
“I wanted to teach the kids that it is important to focus on what you want in life early and to be able to share my experiences and my mistakes with the kids,” he said. “One student asked me what happens if I make a mistake during surgery. I shared something I learned from my mentor that it’s best not to get into trouble but when you do it’s important to know how to get yourself out of trouble.”
Dave Riederman, a classmate of Testaiuti, is now the director of Global Sales for Hyatt hotels. He was the keynote speaker the second year the program started and now organizes and recruits speakers for the program.
“It’s important to give back to the community but it is also important for kids to learn about what it takes to be successful in life, being reliable, likable and sociable are skills that they already have and they need to build upon those skills,” he said.
Two speakers were assigned to each designated classroom and the 45 minute period was divided in two sections so the students had an opportunity to hear about different careers and ask questions. Then when the period was over a second class had a similar opportunity to hear about career paths.
Courtney Citko, class of 2002 owner of A Taste of Long Island in Farmingdale, has done the career day five times.
“I do this because I love Massapequa,” she said. “It’s nice to give back to the school district I graduated from who made me and got me the experiences that I needed to get into the college programs I did and to build what I have.”
Citko started her own company at the age of 27 which includes a store front featuring artisanal products made on Long Island and a professional chef’s kitchen.
Dr. Elliot Siegel, a graduate of Berner in 1966, was raised in Massapequa and his practice as a maxillary facial surgeon is in Massapequa. He also is a member of Doctors Without Borders and for 15 years traveled all over the world helping others in a yearly medical mission. In a few weeks he will leave for Jordan to help with 250,000 Syrian refugees who do not have a doctor.
“Being with Doctors Without Borders is being with like-spirited people and afterward you feel really good,” he said. “While you are there it’s a lot of work and sweat, but it’s so rewarding.”
Larry Fox, a 1982 graduate, is an attorney representing professional basketball players in the NBA and around the world.
“When I meet with the kids in school I tell them my job description has changed so many times. I was originally an accounting major, I went to law school, I was a mergers and acqusitions specialist, then I transitioned into representing professional athletes,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my diverse educational background and the things I did in the seventh, eighth and ninth grade — the clubs, the organizations, the sports, the classes — if I didn’t get involved in so many different diverse things, I would not have been able to reinvent myself and do so many diverse things throughout my career.”
