I do hope I'll be excused for many inaccuracies...
At Morris Hills, there was a Mr. Scafati who taught History or Government...or some such thing. This was around 1962, 1963 (or 64) I suppose. At the time, Mr Scafati lived on West Glen Road at Rock Ridge Lake.
Anyway, in some of our classes, he spoke with great emotion of Apartheid in South Africa and often mentioned Nelson Mandela. I had no prior idea what this was all about but I listened intently. I also had no idea there were such inequalities in the world! Our own Civil Rights efforts were still in their iinfancy, yet Mr. Scafati was extremely influential and convincing as he spoke from his heart of the horrible, unfair treatment of minorities (the blacks weren't even IN the minority in South Africa. They were simply treated as...inferior...and separate!).
I have always, fondly remembered Mr. Scafati for opening my eyes just a bit.
It seems he was more than just a teacher. I believe he had been a part of the US Olympic team as a fencer at some point in time. (As such, he was probably the fencing coach at Morris Hills, now that I think about it.) It seems that fencing is not an easy sport by any means and one would have to be in prime physical condition to excel...among so many other things, I didn't know that at the time.
So many years have passed but I always remember the real-life lessons I learned from Mr. Scafati. I hope he's still alive and well even though he would not remember me from Atom.
Does anyone remember this wonderful man? I don't know if he had a family there at Rock Ridge Lake. I know so little. I do know that Mr. Scafati was a wonderful teacher and I'm pleased to have known him.
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