Andrew Garibaldi: A Tribute to George Padaroff

Völkerball am DSW Sportfest auf dem Logan Drive Parkplatz mit Schulbüsse im Hintergrund (5 April 1968).

A Tribute To George Padaroff

Mr.Padaroff retires at the end of this year. Twenty-eight years ago he started his career at the DSW, when Mr. Kleinschmidt was the principal and the school was on Newbridge Drive. As the school at that time offered little English instruction, Mr. Padaroff single-handedly built the English department and devised its curriculum from scratch. He contributed to the accreditation of the DSW as an American school, to serve the needs of the American students as well as those of the German students. He founded the school yearbook and served as its editor for the first few issues, introduced new fundraising ideas, such as selling apparel with the DSW logo, and was advisor for the five years. For many years Mr.Padaroff has encouraged to join him in the Arena Stage program and experience the joys of the theater.

Mr. Padaroff was my English teacher in the seventh and eighth grades. Before then, I was scared of him. I saw him as a mean, grumpy disciplinarian who frightened children out of their classrooms when he supervised recess periods. One time, in the sixth grade, he came to my class as a substitute teacher and made me stand in the corner of the classroom for being obnoxious (I deserved it). When I became his student, however, I realized that my image of him was wrong. He conducted an open and interesting class, and many of us looked forward to his hour. And yet we were at our best behavior and worked harder than in any other subject. He was strict but also at times playful. I remember in seventh grade Mr. Padaroff taught us the parts of speech. He did so by having us line up in a row to introduce ourselves, each in the role of a different part of speech. The first would step forward and say, "Hello, I am a noun. I am a word used to name a person, place, thing, or idea." The second would introduce himself as a pronoun, the third as a verb, and so on. Those who failed to learn the parts of speech well had to sing in front of the class. I will never forget the parts of speech.

Mr. Padaroff's guidance and encouragement have had great influence in my life. It has been two years since he was my teacher. I still see him often in school, and I notice that he smiles and laughs a lot. He cares greatly for us, and he will miss us the most in his retirement. Those of us who have had the privilege of being his students will miss him also, and we wish him the best.

Andrew Garibaldi (10B) 1996 DSW Yearbook