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World War II vet connects with students.


Frank Parrotta is an 82-year-old veteran of World War II, but you won't find him resting on his laurels taking it easy in front of the television every day. Mr. Parrotta retired from the catering business in 1986, but kept busy traveling with his wife, painting, and landscaping his yard. However, he wanted to do more with his life--he longed to share both his firsthand first·hand  
adj.
Received from the original source: firsthand information.



first
 war experiences and his culinary skills with the younger generation.

Seven years ago, Parrotta read a newspaper article about volunteering at schools and decided to give it a try. He now spends more than 500 hours a year in Weston, Florida Weston is a city located in Broward County, Florida, USA. Established as a city in 1996, much of the community was developed by Arvida/JMB Partners and is located near the western developmental boundary of Broward County. As of 2006, the city had a total population of 65,793. , schools, teaching home economics classes at Tequesta Trace and Falcon Cove middle schools Falcon Cove Middle School is a junior high school located in Weston, Florida which teaches grades 6-8.

The school has a main building of about 200,000 sq. ft. One building is only the cafeteria/auditorium and GYM while the other houses 7th and 8th grade.
 and lecturing before history and Junior ROTC classes at Cypress Bay High.

Though Parrotta never studied culinary arts, he often shares with the students recipes that he learned from his Italian immigrant family, which settled in Brooklyn, New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
. According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 the South Florida Sun-Sentinel The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and all of Broward County. Its main competitor in this area is the Miami Herald, out of neighboring Miami-Dade County to the south. , the chef's classes also serve as a forum for nutritional tips and commentary on issues of the day, such as out-of-control litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute.

When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation.
.

"Eat in moderation. Cut down on your sugars," he advised a pastry-baking class. "Sugar is nice, but not too much of it"

In response to lawsuits against tobacco companies, Parrotta blamed consumers who plead ignorance in such cases, but who should know better: "These people suing the tobacco companies today. Oh, please," he told the class. "I knew [smoking] was bad as a kid in the '30s."

During his history and Junior ROTC classes, Parrotta tells students about his experiences as an aircraft mechanic in the South Pacific during the war against Japan. "What I tell them they don't read about in history books," he told the Sun-Sentinel reporter.

Tequesta Trace home economics teacher Terre Colabella said of the volunteer teacher: "It's good for the kids to see you can do things out of the kindness of your heart and not expect something in return."

For his generous service, Mr. Parrotta has been named five times as the Broward County school "volunteer of the year."
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Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA
Author:Mass, Warren
Publication:The New American
Date:Dec 25, 2006
Words:351
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