Editor's note: When NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi first filed his column about the success of student Otis Scerbo, we felt there was a piece of the story missing. We asked Mr. I to tell us more about what happened in the middle, but he demurred, saying: "You should ask Otis."

This is Otis' story - the simultaneously extraordinary and commonplace story of how teachers change lives.

Not all the kids in Otis Scerbo's neighborhood made it out of high school. Not all the kids made it out alive.

But Otis, a big-eyed boy who fought his way through the primary grades, is now a college graduate.

His childhood, like too many in Central Islip where 16 percent of families are below the poverty line, was burdened by abandonment and loss, by violence and heart-breaking tragedy.

Burdened - but not blighted.

Otis' character and determination propelled him from those tough streets to a baccalaureate procession at Hofstra University. He believes his life took a positive path because of the teachers who believed in him - starting with his fourth-grade teacher, Mr. I.

It's a story Otis wants to tell.

"Prior to his class I was a kid who was always getting into altercations in school and on the streets," says Otis, now 23. "My family moved a lot back and forth. My dad was out of the house. I didn't have a father figure in my life. I had some good friends, but I also hung around the wrong people."

Otis' mom, Elaine, was struggling to do the best she could for Otis; his older sister, Dawn; and Otis' older brother, Troy.

"My brother was always by my side. If I needed help or advice, he was right there next to me, and that made me the kind of person I am. I was a bully a little bit, but I felt like I had a male in my life that I could depend on."

Fighting back was how they coped, an inseparable band of two brothers. "At school if someone disrespected me I did not like it," Otis said. A pattern of "bad behavior" - ignoring school work, fighting, and getting suspended - was the pattern by the time Otis started fourth grade.

That year he was assigned to veteran teacher Dick Iannuzzi, known for his patience, dry humor and success with some of the toughest kids - and as a leader in the Central Islip Teachers Association.

Doing what's right

At graduation: Clockwise, starting with graduate Otis Scerbo; his mom, Elaine Scerbo; cousin Juanita's boyfriend Terry Steptoe; teacher Andre Murphy; Otis' girlfriend, Nadia Camille; sister Dawn Crawford; cousin Juanita Austin holding Corey Simons; Razasha Crawford; Rayonna Williamson; Jamal Graham; Deondray Crawford; Patricia Murphy, wife of Mr. Murphy; Otis' best friend Ricky Martinez; and teacher Dick Iannuzzi.

"Respect is very important to me," Otis says. "He empowered that in myself. I'm talking about Mr. I: He taught me all about respect. He made me understand what respect was and when and how to respect someone.

"For example, he didn't sit down and directly explain what respect was - he showed it with actions. He took the extra step and showed: If you respect me I'll respect you."

Mr. I recalls that "you could see in Otis' eyes that he wanted to do what was right. And when he got in trouble, and I would say, 'Otis, I can't have you fighting,' he would instantly say, 'I know, I'm sorry.'"

Otis had not seen a lot of success in his family. No one had graduated from high school, let alone college.

Mr. I taught him the meaning of a work ethic: why Otis should work in school - not for others, but for himself.

"I didn't put effort into my work previously. Ever since I was in Mr. I's class, I knew I had to do work for me. When I was in fourth grade I started trying harder on everything I did: homework, tests, everything."

Otis still fought sometimes, and he still got sent to the office. Based on his fourth-grade test scores, not a lot was changing - not that you could see. Nonetheless, he was learning lessons that stuck.

"There was this mentor program Mr. I started and he got me in it. He was respecting me as a student and also as a person."

The mentoring program, launched in 1987 as a statewide initiative by the state's then-first lady, Matilda Cuomo, provided extra support to kids who were struggling.

Otis recalls how the program "gave a little counseling, gave people different perspectives how to solve problems. A lot of us made it to high school and it was a stepping-stone in our lives. It was about decision-making: You have to make your own decisions."

Mr. I "was always there during the program," Otis says. "He's been a mentor since the day I met him.

We had a lot of conversations about doing the right thing."

Otis cherishes the memory of a beautiful day that spring, when Mr. I and his wife Joanne, who lived in Smithtown with their three children, hosted a picnic for the mentors and students. "I remember his backyard - he had an old boat back there," Otis says fondly, "and he let us play wiffle ball, the kids vs. the mentors. He actually started playing with us that day, and I thought, he's not just my teacher - he's my friend. To have that kind of a relationship with my teacher, that was very big for me."

An unbearable loss

Although Otis' progress after fourth grade wasn't always linear, he felt changed by that year, and he stayed in touch with Mr. I.

Otis' brother Troy, meanwhile, went to BOCES.

"He loved to cook and brought home cupcakes, and things that he made, and he always talked about going to college. Mom was so excited and she couldn't wait for him to go to college. She always thought Troy would go."

When Otis was in junior high, Troy was the victim of a senseless act of violence. "My brother died," Otis says. "I still don't talk about it much. It was hard for me."

He dropped out of school for a year.

"The first day I came back after a whole year off, I got into a fight because this kid said, 'You'd better stop acting like you're tough or you'll end up like your brother' … and I just lost it. I needed someone to be there for me. It was tough for me to be in the streets and I cut a lot of people off, my friends and everyone."

In what might have been the most painful time of his life, Otis reached out to his fourth-grade teacher.

"Mr. I showed me the ropes. And he was very honest with me. He told me: Don't do that bad behavior, and he talked with me about right and wrong."

Otis notes with wonder that Mr. I arranged for him to attend summer camp at Peconic Dunes on Long Island's North Fork. "I went there for two years and he took care of the whole thing. I had fun there. And I always wondered why he did that for me."

Mr. I recalls now that he and his wife arranged a scholarship and helped with camp because "you could tell with Otis that he just needed a place and an opportunity to do well."

What he got from camp, Otis says, "was another way to be."

"I felt like I had to respect Mr. I - the first person other than my parents who cared for me. I took that to heart," Otis says. "He really made a difference. I consider him always as a father figure to me, and I love him."

A tribute to Mr. Murphy

In high school, Otis had problems in his family and in the neighborhood. Around then, he lost touch with Mr. I.

Another inspirational teacher and father figure was there to reach out a hand. Central Islip social studies teacher Andre Murphy "took me under his wing and got to know me and talked to me after class. And he got me through high school.

"I really thought you could just play basketball in college. I didn't know about majors. Mr. Murphy showed me reality and helped me fill out applications. He was an inspiration to me."

Mr. Murphy (pictured at right) is "very, very proud of Otis," and says that "although it hasn't been easy for him, Otis is an incredible success story." Murphy and his wife Patricia have two young sons, "who look up to Otis like a brother."

With guidance from Mr. Murphy, Otis was accepted at Hofstra through the NOAH (New Opportunities at Hofstra) program for students with nontraditional academic backgrounds. "Once I got the opportunity to go to college, I saw my mom just sparkled. I saw that in her eyes she looked at me and she saw my brother. I wanted to do that for my mom, so she would see success in one of her kids.

"I never thought I would be in college. I learned how to deal with failure when I hit college. I think I have a real good work ethic. I really didn't fail in college except for one or two tests, but I learned to study more."

Troy was always on his mind: "I used his memory every day as motivation. Every day, I said: I did this for you Troy, you know that."

Otis realized in high school that he had "a passion for teaching. What was done for me, I wanted to do." He majored in physical education in college and found that while he was still a student, he was becoming a teacher and a role model for his own family.

His sister Dawn Crawford, a 29-year-old single mother to five children, was studying to earn her GED, so Otis helped her prepare in math, one of his favorite subjects. He was surprised and touched to hear that the sister he argued with as a kid had written an essay about him as her inspiration to succeed.

"I got invited to come to her school and talk. I told them, I don't know why I'm here. I'm not making six figures, I'm attending college - but what I can tell you is the things I've done. And I actually spoke about Mr. I. and Mr. Murphy.

I felt appreciated - I didn't know I had that impact on another individual's life."

Otis also mentors his three nephews and two nieces: "I'm like a father figure to them. I feel I have to be a positive role model. You can't be a quitter: that's something I live by."

Then there are the children he taught as an intern. His senior year, Otis became "Mr. Scerbo," moving into the teacher's role through internships at Bellmore-Merrick High School and North Merrick Elementary. He earned two As and accolades from his supervisors about the respect and rapport he engendered. They were "great learning experiences," Otis says, with supervising teachers who taught him how to lead. He hopes to find a teaching job where he can "give back to the community" and share his passion for education.

Recently, after weeks of schedule conflicts, Otis got the chance to reminisce about old times at the Iannuzzis' kitchen table. Otis told his fourth-grade teacher that he owed him so much: "And he said to me: 'Otis, you're giving me what I want: You are graduating from college.'"

May 20, the day of Otis' graduation from Hofstra, dawned clear and sunny, a beautiful day for a celebration. The week before, he had received Hofstra's Nat Turner award and was described by the NOAH director as a "quiet warrior" for his work ethic and success at college.

At graduation, as Otis crossed the stage with a victory smile, the audience was packed by his own personal rooting section: his mom, tearful and "absolutely ecstatic;" his sister; his best friend Ricky Martinez, who believed in Otis' college dream and told him, "Man, you did it!;" his cousin, Juanita Austin; nieces and nephews; and two proud teachers: Mr. Murphy and Mr. I.

"My oldest nephews are just like me and my brother when we were younger, and I'm just hoping there's another teacher out there who's going to reach their heart," the college graduate says.

"I would tell my nephews and nieces, what I learned is: Give a teacher a chance and they may be able to change your life."

- Deborah Hormell Ward