Mr. Handell is a very well known teacher at Cardozo High School, working in the Social Studies Department and the Law Program. When passing Handell’s classroom, you will always see a bunch of his previous students near his classroom talking to him. Handell is the type of teacher who you can talk and he will give good advice.
Handell’s background is what got him into teaching the Law classes. “For me it’s not so much about law, it’s about bringing the Homeland Security aspect to it and because of my background with EMT (Emergency Medical Technician),” he explained. “We brainstormed a little bit to come up with a new class for 10th graders and Homeland Security was born.”
Becoming a teacher, for him, started back when he was in high school.
“There was a student teacher in front of the room teaching about Othello by Shakespeare. I was in the back of the room not paying attention, being goofy, and he got mad, and said do you think this is easy? Why don’t you get up here and teach. So I went up to the front of the class and I taught for 40 minutes as a 15 year old about Othello and I had so much fun,” Handell said. In 10th grade, he figured out that he wanted to become a teacher himself.
In his Homeland Security class, Handell wants kids to learn about what’s going on in the world. “I want them to take things they can actually use. So we do a lot of stuff on natural disasters, terrorism, anything they may face in the real world,” he shared.
“We have done Stop the Bleed, which teaches students how to use tourniquets and stop life threatening bleeding. They get certificated in two classes in FEMA which they take with them. Current events are a big part of my class. I want the students to be able to take a better world view on current events,” he said.
In addition to being a teacher, Handell is an Emergency Medical Technician. “I have always been fascinated by fire engines and ambulances since I was a kid but because I’m scared of heights I knew I couldn’t be a firefighter. In Long Island everything is volunteer. I was in school and filled out an application. I forgot about it and 7 months later they called me and I went down for a meeting,” he reflected.
What he does as an EMT is respond to car accidents, cardiac arrest, broken bones, broken limbs, bleeding, sick people, and more.
“I drive ambulances, I ride ambulances, etc. During COVID, I was on the front lines. Everything you saw on the news is what it was like. It was all day long responding to people sick with COVID. Some people were really really sick, some didn’t make it. It was rough,” Handell explained. “In 2022 I was elected as Lieutenant for EMS squad One at a fire department. I served the entire year of 2022 as Lieutenant and that was eye opening.”
Not only is Handell a teacher and an EMT, but he also finds the time to play golf. He has coached the Cardozo golf team for several years, and now, he’s the PSAL Golf Commissioner.
“In 2019, the job opening came up for PSAL commissioner of Golf which basically runs the Golf program for PSAL in all 5 boroughs. I applied for that and I got that job so I have been PSAL golf commissioner for 5 years now,” he said.
His job consists of observing matches, coaches, scheduling matches, and dealing with the public golf courses. “There are 10-11 public golf courses so I keep constant contact with them. I am pretty busy because like other sports we are at a public course with regular paying customers. So we have to be able to adhere to them first so it’s not also easy but we make it work.”
After hearing about all of the things Handell does, many may wonder how he can juggle it all, with being a father and a husband. “The key is when you are home, be present, spend time with your family, spend time with the kids. I always coached my sons baseball, basketball, soccer teams. I have done it all. I still do what I can and my kids are older now and now I try to keep up with Cardozo,” Handell explained.
One piece of advice he would give students is, “No matter what you do in life make sure you do the best you possibly can. No matter if you decide you want to be a sanctuary worker, garbage man. Be the best garbage man in the world. If you want to be an accountant, be the best and always pick a job you are going to enjoy in life because if you do that you will never work a day in your life,” he said.
“If you pick a job that pays a lot of money but you don’t like it you will be miserable with money opposed to getting a job that doesn’t pay as much money and you really enjoy it. You will have a very good life. You will feel like you never worked because you enjoy what you are doing.”
