Yana Patel, Social Media Manager
30 January, 2024
Have you ever wondered who is behind many of the core events at our school? You may have seen them around school or maybe in your classes. Their energy is very hard to miss. These two amazing teachers are seen as a dynamic duo since they do everything together. The two people behind all of Port Chester High School’s amazing events are Mr. Kravitz and Mr. Stabile. Mr. Kravitz mainly teaches ENL US History and Government and Sociology. Whereas Mr. Stable mainly teaches Regents Earth Science, Natural Disasters, and next year will be teaching AP Psychology.
What drew each of you to PCHS?
Kravitz: Thinking about my journey to PC, it seems very serendipitous. After graduating from SUNY Cortland in 2014, I began to substitute teach where my mother taught, Rye Middle School. There, I built a great relationship with an English teacher and he had a contact at Port Chester High School and mentioned they were hiring a history teacher. A day later, I was set for an interview. Nine years in and it’s the student-teacher relationships and community that keeps me here.
Stabile: I graduated from New Paltz in 2013. When I first started looking for a job, my wife insisted on helping me. She shared a posting from Port Chester, and told me that I should apply, and that it would be a great fit for me. She was right! Eleven years later, I couldn’t be happier and wouldn’t change a thing. It’s funny how things just seem to fall in place and work out.
As mentioned before, Kravitz and Stabile are behind many of Port Chester High School’s incredible high school events. You can consider them as the “School Spirit Guys!” From the beginning of Kravitiz’s and Stabiles career at Port Chester, strengthening school culture wasn’t the main goal. The motivation that sparked them was just trying to have more fun at work. Kravitz states, “A lot of people may not realize it, but this job is physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing, so organically it became an outlet for us to make Port Chester better for not only us but for all the students and staff.” They were able to bring our school community closer together with many events like spirit days that everyone in school gets involved with. Over the years, Spirit days are the one thing that many students and teachers look forward to and dress accordingly!
How’s Ram Nation going?
Ram Nation is absolutely thriving. This is now the 7th year that we have been running this club. Our main goal in Ram Nation is to strengthen our school community and culture. Ram Nation holds a very special place in our hearts because of the bond its members have with each other. The most admirable part of this gang of students we have is their tenacity, dedication, and motivation to make the school a better place. The energy they bring to each meeting about new ideas for events, merchandise, and so much more has been an honor to witness. Throughout the years, we have had a lot of flops and a lot of wins in terms of events. This year we have had some bad luck when it came to weather for our Fall Carnival, but we pivoted and created the first Holiday Movie Night which turned out to be an awesome event. The other branch of Ram Nation has been growing the store into a legitimate operation. Every year our goal is for each student to own at least one item of PC merchandise. This goal is rooted in the idea that if you look the part, you feel the part. Our Ramily “uniform” has the power to make us feel like the strong community we are.
Kravitz: So much of the fire that fuels Ram Nation is instigated by conversations with students involving disheartened comments about our school in comparison to others.There are more times than I can count hearing students say, “well at X school, they do this. Why can’t we do that?” The answer is we can. I think the moment staff and students alike realized this was when they entered the building the morning of Color Wars and saw the hallway decorating contest on full display. To see the joy and smiles on their faces as I walked the halls gave me chills because it finally clicked: we are THAT school. We just need to act like it.
Why are you guys such a dynamic duo?
Kravitz: Where to start? Stabile and I became best friends as soon as I came to PC. That is something I am so thankful for because it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to make this possible. The reason we are such a good team is we have different strengths that work cohesively. Stabile’s practicality is able to refine my sometimes outlandish ideas into a well oiled machine to host major community events.
Stabile: This is a question that I can answer 100 different ways, but we’ll keep it short and sweet. Kravitz is just such an awesome and special person. From day 1, when we met, we basically became best friends instantly. We are just so alike in the way that we think, our interests and hobbies, our personalities, and our ideas. Like Kravitz said, we really do have different strengths that we bring to the table, that make us such a great team/dynamic duo.
Overall, Mr. Kravitz and Mr. Stabile are both a very important part of our Ramily. Not only are these two teachers, but they are friends to many students and teachers around the school. They deeply care about the school and the students as they want to make their high school experiences the most memorable for the next 4 years. We are grateful to have them a part of this school’s community and can’t wait to see what other incredible things they do during their time at Port Chester High School.