Teacher, mentor, friend
Students past and present pay tribute to their fallen hero, Vinny Nasta
By Denise Civiletti
|
They came to share memories, recollections of a man who'd touched their lives -- last month, last year, or more than a decade ago. They came seeking comfort, answers and information.
They came to give comfort to others with funny stories about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Little Debbie cookies, trips to New York City galleries, and hours spent in their favorite teacher's room, the center of the universe for dozens of high school students spanning nearly 20 years. The youngest among them weren't yet born when the oldest sat in his classroom in Riverhead High School in the fall of 1991.
This week, across space and time, they came together, in shock and mourning, many of them strangers to one another, but bound together by the common thread of one special teacher.
The students of Vinny Nasta gathered in cyberspace as word of his death spread Monday, joining a Facebook Web site group established early in the day by Erika Haas, Riverhead High School class of 2009. Her mother woke her at 6 a.m. Monday to give her the shocking news: Mr. Nasta was dead, killed in a plane crash at an upstate air show, where he performed as a stunt pilot. (See story on page 1.)
Through tears in a telephone interview Tuesday, Erika recalled Mr. Nasta as "more than a teacher -- he was one of my best friends."
That was the refrain of dozens of Mr. Nasta's students both in messages posted on the Facebook site and in phone interviews this week.
"He made you feel special."
"He believed in me when no one else did."
"He understood you, even though he was an adult."
"He changed my life."
"I wouldn't have gotten into college without him."
"He made me believe in myself."
"He taught me I could accomplish something."
"He inspired me."
Vinny Nasta -- born in Brooklyn, raised in Shirley, a graduate of William Floyd High School, where he met the girl he'd someday marry, Kathleen Larkin -- spent nearly all of his professional life at Riverhead High School. Holding degrees in art from the School of Visual Arts and education from Dowling College, he taught computer graphics and advanced placement studio art courses.
But he taught a whole lot more, according to his former students.
"He could make you stop doubting. He gave you a sense of accomplishment. He made you feel like everything was going to be OK," said RHS junior Kelly Griffith.
Melissa Browne, RHS class of 1995, said Mr. Nasta opened up a whole new world for a lot of his students. Some of them, she said, had never been to NYC. "He took us into the city to art museums. Some kids never would have gotten to go into the city; they never rode the subway before. It was a big deal for a lot of kids," Ms. Browne said.
"He helped you think outside the box, to know it's OK to color outside the lines. What you do outside the lines is often an expression of who you really are," Ms. Browne said Tuesday. "He taught you to look deeper, to look at what you really like, find what you're really dreaming about and go for it," she said.
Ms. Browne, 31, graduated from SUNY/Cortland with a degree in a communications, and is now a producer with Fox News in NYC.
Colleen O'Connor, a member of the class of 2006 and now a theater student at the University of New Mexico, said she took a class with Mr. Nasta in 10th grade, but was one of "his students" through 12th grade. The group of kids that were "his students," she explained, went way beyond the pupils in his classroom courses. Mr. Nasta spent every free period he had with the kids who flocked to his room during their lunch periods just to "hang" with him.
"I was really interested in photography," said Kaitlyn Ferris, a junior. Mr. Nasta came into fellow art teacher Joanne Dellaposta's classroom during his free period every day, Kaitlyn said. "He was always encouraging me." Mr. Nasta convinced her to enter various contests, she said. She won one, and got her photo published in Newsday.
Ariana Mielnicki of Aquebogue graduated in June. "He helped me my whole senior year get through everything -- between friends, boy problems, teachers ... He pushed me to finish projects. He kept me going in life all around," she said. "He was truly an inspiration. He was more than a teacher. He was like a best friend to everybody."
"He invested time in me," Kristen Bokinz, class of 2002, said. "He was so kind and patient." Mr. Nasta taught Photoshop to his students, even though the school didn't have a Photoshop course, Ms. Bokinz said. "He did it because he felt it was something we needed to know."
Ms. Bokinz credits Mr. Nasta with her career success as a researcher for magazine publishers in NYC.
"He believed in me," said April Hoera, class of 2006. "He helped me get my portfolio together, which got me into college." She's pursuing a career in art, she said.
Mr. Nasta's interest in his students extended beyond the classroom. If any of "Vinny's kids" was involved, Mr. Nasta and his wife would attend games, competitions and concerts. They even showed up at an art opening in Washington, D.C., where Kayleigh Van Vliet, class of 2004, was exhibiting, her father, Len Van Vliet said. She attended the Corcoran School of Art there -- thanks to Mr. Nasta's efforts to help her put a portfolio together, her father said.
"I've been out of high school 13 years, and there's still something so poignant about him, so special," said Kassy Guy-Reed, who now lives in Daytona Beach, Fla., where she is the executive director of a homeless center. "That my classmates, and people ahead of me, and behind all say the same thing speaks so much to who he is," Ms. Guy-Reed said. "You only hope for a teacher like this once in a lifetime," she said.
A "father figure" to students today and a "big brother" to his first crop of students in the early 1990s, they all remember him as generous and caring.
"Vinny Nasta was selfless," wrote former student Sean Myrden, Riverhead Library's network administrator. "His class was right next to the cafeteria, and without fail, every day, during 4th, 5th, and 6th period, there would be a steady stream of financially strapped kids, freshmen through seniors, sheepishly entering his class and asking for a dollar for some food. He had a dollar ready. He had a wad ready."
"Vinny was incredible," said former Riverhead music teacher Frank Yolanga. "He always had a smile on his face. He'd say Hi to you in the hall even if he didn't know you. Vinny was an amazing human being," Mr. Yonlanga said.
denise@timesreview.com
