Bethpage-Tribune_1973-11-22

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BrTHIfcGE
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OLD BETHPAGE
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PLAINVIEW PLAlt Ut«^*«* HV -
Vol. 8 No. 1 Thursday, November 22, 1973 10 cents per copy
consider this... TRIBUNE FEATURETTE
Ch«ro.i»s? Or Clinics? Three Faces of Fred Ippolito
by ann conroy
"Future-think suggests
that between 1970 and 1980
a number of new assign­ments
and specialists will
materialize if present
trends continue. For one
thing, the basic role of the
teacher will change
noticeably. Ten years
hence it should be more
accurate to term him a
"learning clinician". This
^Iels~1htemlefl''1id*~c6nvey~
the idea that schools are
becoming CLINICS whose
purpose is to provide indi­vidualized
psychosocial
TREATMENT for the
student."
In those three sentences,
the Educational Establish­ment
has set down the
blueprint within which
they will reorganize our
public tax-supported
schools now and through­out
the 1970's. Quoted ver­batim
from the (NEA)
National Education Asso­ciation,
January 1969, the
article entitled, "FORE­CAST
FOR THE SEVEN­TIES,"
?n*>s on to say a lot
more that would make
your hair curl. For ex­ample,
the learning clini­cian,
who used to be called
a teacher because she
taught children how to
read, write, and calculate,
will now enter the be­havioral
sciences where
she will coordinate and
direct individual inquiry.
I*— The senior learning cli­nicians
will coordinate
services for groups of 200
to 300 children, while
"team" teaching will be
expanded to include para-professionals,
teaching
interns, counselors, and
analysts of various types,
under the ominous titles of'
"culture analysts", "in­formation-
input special­ists",
"curriculum-in-put
specialists", and "bio­chemical
therapists and
pharmacists". However,
"the learning clinician will
probably not be appre­ciably
more specialized in
subject-matter disciplines
than he was in the1%0's,
except for being more
skilled in using educa­tional
technology." More­over,
the learning clinician
will engage less in 1968-
style group instruction,
ami concentrate more on
the maintaining of effec­tive
environment and
interpersonal relation­ships,
which is another
»^»JlMyiniLttiglJ«ach^
ers will be practicing ama­teur-
psychology rather
than concentrating on
teaching as we have
always known it.
The article, distilled
from more than 400 books
and essays on education,
predicts that more and
more money will be spent
on the preschool and early
childhood programs,
suggesting that mini
schools be set up for two
and three-year-olds. Of
course, the major function
of these mini schools will
be "early referral to
cooperating social agen­cies
for treatment of psy-chobehavioral
problems."
What about those children
who come from environ­mentally-
damaging
homes? The NEA has the
answer: "mandatory
foster homes and boarding
schools for children bet­ween
the ages of two and
three whose home envir­onment
was felt to have a
malignant influence." The
NEA admits the idea could
have a tinderbox quality
because, "there is no clear
social precedent for
removing a child from his
home because it lacks the
SENSORY INPUT needed
to build normal intelli­gence."
Can you imagine
taking a baby of two or
three away from his home
and family because some
bureaucratic bungler, with
or without a psychologist
degree, determines that
the home lacks "SEN­SORY
INPUT"? What
about love, warmth, and
security? Out the window!
Down with the family: up
-{Continued on'Page-5) •—.-'••*•-
Dad, Mom And Deputy Commissioner.
Bethpager Handles A l l Three Roles A r t f u l l y.
If being a mother is., aass • • • • • • • • • • • ' &
the ladies .say, a full-time
job, then being both a
mother and a father is
something akin to the
impossible.
But one of Bethpage's
sons, Fred Ippolito, seems
to be making a success of
responsibility as both
^Deputy ^GoHMmssionor-ef-the
Town of Oyster Bay's
Department of General
Services and—fathcr-mother
to his children.
A respected and acti
member of the corn
munity, Fred is involved in
many civic and social
organizations. The
Theodore Roosevelt
Republican Club of Beth-page
is one of Fred's
prime interests and he is
currently serving as vice-president.
He is a member
of the Columbus Lodge,
Order Sons of Italy in
America; the Knights of
Columbus and the St.
Martin of Tours R. C.
Church. He serves on the
Bethpage P. T. A. and the
County Foster Parents
Association and is a
member of that group's
Christmas Party Com­mittee
which is preparing
to give a holiday party for
more than 1,200 foster
Bethpage School Board's
Committee for the
D e v e l o p m e n t of
Recreational Facilities for
the Youth of Bethpage. In
addition, he was recently
"selected to. join the Nassau
children in Nassau County.
But the bulk of Fred's
time ouAsklft -the office is
devoted to his two children
11-year old Cheryl and S-year
old Billy. As both
. mother and father to them,
l i a
much of his life is centered
around theirs.
A typical day in the
Ippolito household starts
with father, daughter and
son getting up at 7 A.M. -
dad for work and the kids
* for school. The family St.
Bernard, Brandy, adds to
the confusion. After break­fasting
together, Fred
drops Cheryl and Billy at
the bus stop and heads for
the office. His work day
runs from 8:30 P.M. to 5:30
P.M. after which he goes
to bis mother's house in
Bethpage to pick the
children up and take them
home.
During football season,
the Ippolito "team" grabs
a quick bite to eat and
heads for practice. Billy is
in the Panther's Peanuts
Division and bis sister
Cheryl is a cheerleader for
the Junior Varsity. Fred is
a coach for the Junior
V a r s i t y . Cheryl's
cheerleading squad
recently placed first in the
First All-Nassau County
'Cheerleading Competition
a^d Fred's team won first
place in its division. Billy's
(Continued on Page 7)