We Gain a Trump,We Lose a Stromoski

Former Assistant Head Master Anthony Stromoski had been the cause of many moments of relief and despair. Mr. Stromoski started as a Latin teacher at our beloved school. Eventually, he was promoted to Assistant Head Master of Discipuli Life, a position similar to that of a dean. Here, he took it upon himself to monitor student behavior.

He was the authority figure in all school-body related topics, and was typically the head of school-spirit related events, such as March Madness, the annual school-wide competition between classes.

However, at the end of the 2015-2016 school year, Mr. Stromoski left our Brooklyn Latin community. With his departure, school bureaucrats have, up to this point, not hired an official replacement for him. Instead some of his roles have been filled with administrators such as Javonti George and Wensceslao Yee.

The lack of a “Mr. S” figure has caused some students to adopt a slightly disheveled appearance. While the uniform code is still strictly upheld by certain magistri such as Lance Tomas, Shelby Martin, and Malcolm Hill, there is an increasing amount of casual uniform violations. Shirts have gone untucked, ties have gone missing, and the line between dress shoes and sneakers is now blurring. As Moises Rijo, Class II, pointed out: there is simply, “one less broken record about not having a belt.”

General school discipline has also been on a steady decline. There has been an increase in hallway disarray, as mentioned by Class III discipulus, Sam Shakarchy, “Everyone is [going] up on the down stairwell and down the up stairwell.” In the digital world, as reported by Esther Lee, Class I, “We can [now] have Facebook shenanigans without getting caught until there’s a snitch.”

While there is now admittedly a slight problem with the enforcement of school order and uniform policy in our school, there is a much more subtle problem underneath. Many students miss the presence of someone that is truly connected with the students.

Mr. Stromoski was known as being somebody that a student could turn to in most situations—not only academic ones—for advice and guidance. Mohammad S. Uddin, Class of 2016 Alumnus, when describing the relevance of Mr. Stromoski, even took a step to compare him to a fatherly figure.

According to Maya Marie, Class II, “A lot of his roles seem to be things that he chose to do, not things that were part of his job description, and so when he left they disappeared.”

This perhaps explains the increase in chaos, showing how it is not the fault of the current school staff, but simply the lack of Mr. Stromoski in school life.

Some of Mr. Stromoski’s roles have been taken up by new hires. But this does not mean every Stromoski void has been filled, as expressed by Precious McDonald, Class II: “Now we have grade leaders who barely know our last names and which clubs we are a part of, whereas Mr. S. could tell you the color socks you had on three months ago.”