For 16 years students passed through Marisa DePalma-Galindez’s classroom, and the lessons that stayed with them often extended far beyond textbooks — shaping the careers and enriching the lives of hundreds of people who credit the educator with helping them find their paths.
The Hewlett Elementary School second-grade teacher formed close friendships with co-workers as well over the years.
DePalma-Galindez died on Nov. 29, at age 65, after battling an illness for a year.
“Marisa DePalma was a remarkable educator and an extraordinary human being whose beliefs about teaching and learning shaped the joyful, nurturing classrooms she created,” retired HES Principal Sandy Pensak, her close friend, wrote in an email.
Born in Brooklyn, DePalma-Galindez grew up in Whitestone, Queens, before settling in Williston Park. She earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education, with a specialization in reading, from CUNY Queens College. She began her career teaching first and second grades at P.S. 165 in District 25, where she spent 18 years before coming to Hewlett Elementary.
After she retired in 2017, DePalma-Galindez was a substitute teacher in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district, traveled with her husband, John Galindez, and worked as a volunteered in the gift shop at Winthrop Hospital, in Mineola.
“She and her husband had a magnificent marriage,” Jennifer Hoffman, a second-grade teacher at HES and a close friend. “The beauty of their connection and relationship was so wonderful to watch and they just had such a loving and supportive relationship with one another.”
Hoffman said that DePalma-Galindez enjoyed still being connected to her HES family after retirement, seeing the children and continuing to teach them.
“She had a true love of reading and all literacy-related activities,” said Randi Ward, a kindergarten teacher at Franklin Early Childhood Center, a former co-worker and close friend of DePalma-Galindez. “That was her strength as a teacher. She would make sure it was conveyed to her students.”
Ward said that DePalma-Galindez loved books, reading and engaging with students. “Her warmth and love to her students as well as her colleagues are [were] her best traits,” Ward added. “She embodied what you just imagine a teacher would be with those types of characteristics.”
Fellow HES second-grade teacher Christina Beatty described DePalma-Galindez as “loving, kind, caring and compassionate.”
“She would fill a room with laughter,” Beatty said. “She had such a beautiful smile, and she would enter a room and brighten it no matter where she was. She was a master teacher, and when I arrived at Hewlett Elementary School, she took me under her wing.”
Pensak said that DePalma-Galindez knew that children grew at different rates, and never measured them against one another. “Instead, she tended to each student with patience and care, trusting that with encouragement, consistency, and time, every child would reach their fullest potential,” Pensak wrote. “Her ongoing pursuit of knowledge, her commitment to safety and stability, her dedication to fostering independence, and her consistent reinforcement of clear, high expectations were not simply philosophies she spoke about, they were principles she lived by every day.”
DePalma-Galindez’s colleagues, including Beatty, Hoffman, Pensak and Ward, cherished their friendship with her, and they celebrated many birthdays and special occasions together. The group of friends threw her a second-grade-themed 65th birthday party, celebrating her dedication to and love for teaching. Now they are creating a scholarship fund in her honor at Hewlett High School for a graduating senior.
“She was a cherished colleague and deeply beloved by the parents who entrusted their children to her care,” Pensak wrote. “Marisa truly personified the heart of early childhood education, bringing the care, wisdom, and intentionality that help young children thrive.”
“Marisa’s classroom was a haven where children felt safe, valued, and eager to learn,” Beatty said. “Among her colleagues, she was a pillar of support and compassion, always ready to listen, assist, and celebrate others’ achievements. Her professionalism was complemented by her generous spirit, making her a beloved member of the HES staff.”
DePalma was an avid swimmer, and the group of friends would go to the beach together. They would also celebrate the 100th day of school each year.
“We would dress up as 100-year-olds together and do writing celebrations with the children,” Beatty said. “She loved to comfort and make the children feel better if they had a bad day. She would keep stuffed animals around her classroom to make them feel better.”
