Thursday, October 1, 2026
By now you’ve all heard me discuss my four decades as a teacher in Valley Stream. I’ve written often about education, college and vocational training. One thing I haven’t discussed are the many stories I’ve heard about students’ lives.
Of course, student-teacher interactions fit the classic normal distribution known as the bell curve: basically, 10 percent of students will love their teacher no matter how lousy he is, 10 percent will hate him no matter how fantastic he is, and then there are the other 80 percent, who fall somewhere in that large middle realm.
Most of us can fondly remember two or three great educators from our youth. We also remember two or three teachers who were awful, terrible or downright crazy.
Teachers remember students in just about the same way. I’ve calculated that I’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 13,000 students in my driver education, adult ed. and continuing ed. classes over the decades — 40 years of five classes per semester, two semesters per year, as well as extracurricular and co-curricular clubs and advisories. This doesn’t include all the students who knew me and who I got to know just by being in and around the school all day and at performances, sporting events, concerts, dances and plays.
Sadly, through the years we tend to clearly remember only the very best and the very worst students. The other 80 percent might fall in the category of fond, if not vivid, memories. Those might be youngsters who quietly and diligently worked toward their life goals without much fanfare, or perhaps those who struggled a bit, yet to realize their full potential, as they made their way through the academic process.
I can say with certainty that there is very little that makes a teacher happier than seeing former students become successful, and success is measured in so many ways: personally, professionally, academically, financially; experiences with family, traveling; achieving growth, maturity, peace and happiness. Probably most important is doing what they love to do, and living the life that they choose and desire.
That being said, I certainly have had my share of students who probably think very little of me, just like every other teacher out there. But of those who I see out in the world today, those who remember their high school years with fondness far outnumber their counterparts with mostly negative memories. I’ve always said that certain students connect and learn better with educators with different styles, just as they do with different subject matter. The diversity of teaching and learning styles is what makes public education great.
Having taught in Valley Stream, and continuing to live here in a very public role as mayor, has certainly increased the number of interactions I have with former students. When I started teaching, my colleagues warned me that seeing my students around the village where I live would be very detrimental and annoying for me. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Virtually every student encounter outside the classroom has been positive. Even the so-called troubled students tend to grow into productive adults, who understand that my actions back in the day, or their behavior, could have been better.
When I’m out and about with my own children, my grandchildren or my fiancé, former students — many of whom are now nearing their 60s! — will come up and say hi. When they greet me with, “Hello, Mr. Fare,” I’ll usually say, “Let me guess — I was your teacher.” And my favorite kind of greeting is when they recite a phrase that I frequently used in my lessons. I guess some of them actually listened.
It’s comforting to know that perhaps I, like so many of my colleagues, was a positive influence on so many lives.
Ed Fare is the mayor of Valley Stream.
