Franklin Square lunchroom monitor saved choking boy

A Franklin Square school monitor was recently recognized for rescuing a student who was choking during lunch.

Roseanne Alessi, 44, sprang into action this fall to assist the fourth-grade boy after she scanned the cafeteria at Washington Street Elementary School and noticed he was having difficulty breathing. The quick-thinking monitor said she hurried over and delivered several blows to his back that successfully dislodged the food stuck in his throat.

Alessi, of Franklin Square, was recognized last month with the Franklin Square Union Free School District’s Hero Award “in honor of her act of kindness and bravery,” according to district officials.

“I usually walk up and down the aisles and kind of scan from far away to get a good look of the entire room, and that’s when I locked eyes with a student who seemed like he was struggling,” Alessi said. “I noticed that he was trying to cough up, or trying to swallow, whatever he had lodged in his mouth.”

Alessi, a mother of three, has been a school monitor at Washington Street since fall 2024 and before that was a stay-at-home mom since 2011, she said. In her position, she is trained to administer first aid, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and operate automated external defibrillators, according to school officials.

When Alessi approached the student, she said she first signaled to him to confirm that he was choking and observed something stuck inside his mouth. Next, she delivered a series of back blows while instructing him to pull out the unknown food item.

The whole incident lasted less than 10 seconds, she said.

“I felt a little adrenaline,” said Alessi, who was prepared to perform the Heimlich maneuver if the back blows failed. “As a mom, of course right away you think about your own kids and I said to myself, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that just happened.’ ”

After the incident, Alessi said the monitors reminded the children to thoroughly chew their food and if they ever find themselves choking to “hit the table and put their hands around their neck to get somebody’s attention,” she said. In this case, Alessi said she noticed the boy’s struggles before he was able to signal.

Washington Street assistant principal Dominic Gobbo praised Alessi’s efforts and noted that the school’s monitors are given “training on a regular basis” to handle such situations.

“To say they are only monitors is an understatement,” he said. “There’s so much more that goes into it than just supervising students.”

Franklin Square Superintendent Jared Bloom added, “The district is thankful to our dedicated staff, including Ms. Alessi, who goes above and beyond on a daily basis and in times of need for our students.”

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