Edith L. Slocum Elementary School teacher's aide Camille Marulli honored for nearly 40 years of service

When Edith L. Slocum Elementary School student Freddy Cantillo was in third grade, he got a lot of stomachaches. But there was one person who made him feel better: Camille Marulli.

Marulli, a longtime teacher's aide, often works in the nurse's office and helps tend to the students there.

“She would always take care of me every single time," Cantillo, now in fifth grade, recalled. "It was a really pleasant experience, and I didn’t feel bad going at all.”

Marulli, 86, has worked at the Ronkonkoma elementary school for nearly four decades. On Friday, her fellow educators surprised Marulli at their annual Flag Day ceremony with a street sign named after her.

Marulli, the namesake of the newly-dedicated Marulli Way, is known as the school's "kickball queen," a nod to the frequent pickup games she organizes for students. Slocum community members described her as a familial presence essential to the fabric of the school.

John Zambriski, 52, a physical education teacher, organized the ceremony and presented Marulli with the street sign after students performed patriotic songs and read Flag Day poems.

“She’s literally everybody’s grandmother and has been everybody’s grandmother forever,” Zambriski said.

Zambriski said he decided earlier in the school year to honor Marulli with the sign and organized a collection from staff and alumni to fund it. The sign will hang above the crosswalk where Marulli often shepherds students into school.

“Hopefully the kids realize the impact that she has given to this school...Forty years is unheard of today and she means everything," he said.

Zambriski and other teachers said Friday that Slocum graduates frequently point to Marulli’s kickball games as a meaningful childhood memory.

“She always hosts kickball and it’s really fun, because when it’s indoor recess, there’s usually nothing to do,” said fifth-grader Casey Mammolito, 10. “Kickball is awesome, and she’s amazing."

'Like family'

Marulli said she was “overwhelmed” by the sign dedication from her colleagues.

“I’m so much older than them, and I’ve seen them grow into their position, and it’s just amazing that they feel that way towards me," she said.

Marulli’s students from over the years often return to Slocum, sometimes as parents, and tell her the impact she's had on their lives. Marulli recalled a truck abruptly pulling over next to one of her kickball games and a Slocum graduate running over to hug her.

“You always worry that you don’t do right with the children,” Marulli said. “You always say, ‘Did I do this?’ But no, it was all good.”

Slocum’s tight-knit community is what has kept Marulli at the school for so long, she said. She plans to return next academic year and then retire.

“I like what I do. I love the children, I love the people that are working here. It’s the whole package,” Marulli said.

First-grade teacher Terri-Lynn Guastella, 56, said Marulli has had an impact on her colleagues as well as the students.

“Mrs. Marulli is like family to me. She is always someone that I can go to any time I’m having any type of troubles, whether it’s classroom teacher troubles or even personal troubles,” Guastella said.

She added, "We like to laugh and the two of us, we like to joke around like we don’t like each other, and everyone gets a kick out of it because we love each other so much.”

Marulli’s students and colleagues said she emphasizes teaching respect, kindness and boundaries.

“She’s our court justice,” Cantillo said. “She’s like the judge of the school, she makes sure everything is fair.”