By Sarina Trangle
Queens officially named its first street in honor of a teacher when dozens gathered to pay tribute to Geraldine “Geri” Cilmi beside PS 41 last Friday afternoon.
Students helped City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) pull a slip off a green sign bearing white letters that spelled out Mrs. Geri Cilmi Place near the corner of 214th Place and 35th Avenue.
Colleagues, pupils and relatives of Cilmi, who died three years ago after a battle with cancer, spoke of the science teacher’s decades at PS 41 and her ability to engage all five of her students’ senses.
“She will never be forgotten,” said Vallone, noting that the street sign was the county’s first to pay tribute to a teacher. “Every time another student walks into the great halls of PS 41, they’re going to look up and say, ‘Who was she?’”
Both PS 41 Principal Sari Latto and Thomas Fennell, a former student who began working to rename the street corner as a seventh-grader, described the animals, plants and vibrant teaching aids that found a home in Cilmi’s classroom.
“As a kid I didn’t like school,” Fennell said. “But that class was fun.”
Cilmi’s mentoring moxie was also much-praised.
Mary Vaccaro, the United Federation of Teachers District 26 representative, said she remembered Cilmi inviting her into her classroom nine years ago and dispensing vital advice.
“Many of those teachers would not be the successful teachers that they are today without the mentoring that they received from Geri,” Vaccaro said of the several science instructors at the ceremony.
Vaccaro also thanked Cilmi’s son and husband for forgoing hours with her so she could focus on her career.
Thomas Cilmi, the late teacher’s husband, and their son Salvatore Cilmi both choked up when discussing her and receiving a duplicate of the new street sign.
“This really just makes us feel like she’s still around,” said Salvatore Cilmi. “And this is something that we can pass by every day and remind us that she not only had an effect on our lives but an effect on everyone here.”
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
