Gertrude Foley and Marion Kinney- My Favorite Teachers

Mrs. Foley

My favorite teacher when I was an elementary student at the Amenia High School was Mrs. Gertrude Foley. She taught grades 3 and 4 which were in the same room. This was in the years 1934 and 1935 and I had just transferred from the Waterbury Conn. school system to the New York system. Prior to that I had begun Kindergarten in Detroit, Mich. This was my third school in as many years. It was the Depression era. I now lived just north of the school on the Roland Palmer farm, being managed by William McEnroe. I walked along Route 22 to get to school. Sometimes I roller skated.

I was 8 year’s old when Mrs. Foley welcomed me to her classroom which was a really comfortable place. She made me feel good about myself and my ability to learn. I always looked forward to going to school. I remember, especially, the cursive writing exercises and the times table drills, among others. I also remember that she and her family lived across the street from the school and that made me feel good that she was always near-by.

Marion Kinney
On entering High School, which was in the same building, I had to choose a major. I chose a Business curriculum. A newly graduated Business teacher had just joined the faculty, Marion McDonald. She was petite, soft-spoken, knew her subjects well, and made you feel you belonged in her classroom. As most of her classes were Regents finals, we could feel very confident of being successful when we got to that test, as long as we had done our part. “Miss McDonald” was my favorite teacher while I was in high school and enabled me to successfully achieve my Regents Diploma and my High School Diploma, copies of which I have kept to this day. She married local farmer George Kinney, had 2 children, and later taught Kindergarten in the Webutuck Central School system. As a South Street neighbor our families were friends over the years; and, she was godmother to one of my children.

Both ladies, in their quiet, positive ways of teaching made me like to be in school, and enjoy learning. And in those years, New York State was ranked #1 in the country for its educational system. These ladies were two of the reasons why.

Arlene Iuliano served as Amenia Town Supervisor and is currently the Amenia Town Historian. She had a successful career in management at the Taconic D.D.S.O., and is the mother of five, grandmother of ten and has four great -grandchildren.