New Haven Independent

There was nearly full attendance at Wednesday night’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting, including the mayor. An official member of the board, he was there not only to congratulate some remarkable kids for their achievements in reading and history, but also in his capacity to appoint Nast (at right in photo), the BOE’s newest member, as well as to say to goodbye and profound thanks to John Prokop (at center in photo), who was attending his last meeting.

Prokop will become the city’s director of public works on June 4. He will also be stepping down after 12 years as an active BOE member and head of the board’s influential administration and finance committee.

In swearing in Nast, the mayor said, “In Michael Nast, we get the best of both worlds. Someone who was raised in New Haven and the New Haven school system, and a professional educator, teacher, principal, and superintendent. He will be a real asset to us.”

Nast was not exactly filling Prokop’s shoes. Indeed he’s taking the spot of Peggy Hamilton Delinois, who resigned. He will serve out her term until 2008. The search for Prokop’s replacement is ongoing.

Nevertheless, was Michael Nast daunted even a little? He was asked this question after his first lengthy meeting in executive session, his swearing in, and the public session. The members did not emerge to join in the public meeting until an hour and a half after the scheduled six o’clock start, by which time one of the fifth-grade awardees had gone home for dinner, and no explanation was given.

Independent: First of all, will you be attending all the meetings?
Nast: I certainly hope so.
Independent: Any special feeling on your being sworn in?
Nast: I’m just excited after my first meeting. My colleagues are wonderful, strong people.
Independent: Is there some special area or focus you’d like to be engaged in?
Nast: Dr. Mayo has not yet assigned me to any subcommittees. Wherever I can help, I will be happy to serve.
Independent: I know you’re a product of the NHPS yourself, but can you fill in some specifics for us?
Nast: I’m a lifelong New Havener. For elementary, I attended the Clinton Avenue School, and then Fair Haven Junior High, as it was called then, on Grand Avenue. For high school, I went to Cross, as Rich Abbatiello well knows.

Independent: Meaning?
Nast: Oh, one of the pleasures of serving on this board is going to be to spend time with Rich. We were at Cross together, you know, but then I mostly saw the back of his helmet. We were on the same football team. He was a lineman and I was a halfback.
Independent: What year was that?
Nast: We graduated in 1959. Oh and we were both on the state high school football all star team.
Independent: And what do you remember most from Cross, or your career in the NHPS that might have resonance for your new post?
Nast: I actually remember many of the teachers who had personal relationships with me. Oh, especially there was the late Tom Vitelli, the Latin teacher. It was not so much that he was a great teacher, but he helped me with college applications. I think he was instrumental in my going to Fordham.
Independent: And what did you study there?
Nast: In those days you could finish Fordham with a degree in pharmacology in four years and that’s what I did. My father was a pharmacist, so I became one too.
Independent: But you didn’t practice that, did you?
Nast: No, I went right from college to teaching science at the arch rival, Hillhouse.
Independent: And you’ve been a New Havener all these years?
Nast: That’s right. I met my wife at Hillhouse. We married after college and have been here ever since. Even when I was a high school principal and then superintendent of the Stamford Public Schools, for all those 18 years, I made that commute from New Haven.
Independent: Were you surprised when you heard from the mayor and Dr. Mayo?
Nast: Not really. For a bit of time now I was cutting back on my work and at least a year ago I had written to Dr. Mayo offering myself to help. I want to give back to the city, and so I’m looking forward to this board very much.
Independent: Any other thoughts about the NHPS, teachers, what’s ever on your mind?
Independent: Well, in the class that I teach at the University of Connecticut, I always ask my students what are the major traits of a teacher that really matter to them. And the answer is almost invariably that it’s not so much the teacher’s ability, that is, his or her knowledge or expertise that matters most, although that is of course very important. What matters most is the sense that they care about you and can communicate with you.

John Prokop, in his farewell as a BOE member, seemed to echo this: “In my several careers,” he said, “I have never encountered a group of people more dedicated than the members of the BOE and the staff.” Then he turned to the many staffers and parents in the room. “Your kids are the luckiest, I think, in the State of Connecticut. My hats are off to you.”