Name: Kerri Simeone
Age: 38
Occupation: French teacher 7-12, finishing second certification TESOL K-12. Love every minute!
In a relationship for 7 years with my love, Peter❤
Children: Jonathan (20) & Felicity (17 1/2)
I’ll be honest with you. I never thought that I would be in a position like this, especially in a running group. Lou, thank you for giving me this opportunity and thank you to all of you Selden Warriors that have inspired me and continue to share moments and experiences that keep me in this life changing passion. I wish that I had met this group a long time ago. You are one of the most positive and selfless group of people.
Childhood: I was born in the ice storm of ’78. Almost in the house, but thank goodness, parents were able to make it to hospital on the night of Muhammed Ali’s big fight. Needless to say that there were many priorities that night…lol. I was born and raised in Huntington. I have a brother, 4 years younger. The family jokes around saying that the UPS man dropped him off because he has tan complexion and blonde hair. The genes were from my maternal grandfather. Fast forward to 1998, I experienced that with my daughter, who’s eyelashes and hair were bleach blonde. I even had the nurses check our ID bands…lol. I was very blessed to grow up 5 minutes from the beach, which influenced my summer job as camp counselor at the beach. Summer life was beach community surrounded, and school year was soccer, crew, and marching band surrounded. I was always active as a child and always challenged myself. Some say that we are our own worst enemy. I feel that I was my best friend. Always tried to climb the way up to the next level at my own pace. Without knowing the real life challenges that I would face as an adult, I am thankful for the opportunities that were given to me as they helped shape me into the person that I am today. I’ve shown my own children that through divorce, teaching challenges, health challenges, etc, we are survivors. Life doesn’t have to be perfect, but we do hold our heads and pull on through. My mom was a R.N. who worked the night shift, so that she could be home for my brother and I. She was an active part in our everyday school lives. She then went into social work and discharge planning, where we started the life of a latch key child. Dad traveled the world alot due to his job. Some birthdays wishes were via fax. I started to dislike his absence, especially when it came to my soccer games. He would bring home a coin from each country and a doll. I believe that had some bit of part in my interest in foreign languages. School pretty much was my true passion. I’m a nerd like that…still:-) I tried to be humble because my brother was born partly deaf and went to a special school until his later years in elementary school. He had to work very hard in his speech therapy and school studies, especially with dyslexia on top of the cake. Presently, he is a graphic artist and volunteer firefighter with a huge heart! I graduated Huntington High school in 1996 and graduated NCCC with honors in 1999. I went on to LIU-C.W.Post, wrote an honors thesis and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2002. After that, I dove into my Master’s degree at Stony Brook University, and graduated in 2006. Like I previously mentioned, I am currently finishing my second teaching certification. I would like to teach English to second language learners. I know that this is the right pathway, as I have been coming across mant situations that this knowledge could’ve helped me to help others. I am a person that believes in signs and has strong faith. One of my friends recently shared an inspirational quote that I have just ordered to be inscribed on a bracelet: Let your faith be bigger than your fears.
All in all, my parents provided my brother and I a wonderful childhood filled of imaginary play, running through the neighbors yards till we reached our own yard, weekends with the grandparents, awesome Halloween nights, and more. Unfortunately, I can’t give my kids the society that I grew up in, as our world has turned into something that I never imagined, but I can promise to always love my children and guide them in life as we begin the doorway to their adult journey.
I picked up running again about 7 years ago. I’m going to leave you curious and talk about that later this week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. For my teacher friends….whooo, whoop, 4 day weekend!