18 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 

I

f you grew up in Southfield and went 
to Vandenberg, Northbrook or Birney 
during the ’60s, ’70s or ’80s, chances are 
you had Ms. Prendergast, the music teacher 
affectionately known as Ms. P
.
Best known for her creative energy and 
enthusiasm, Ms. P (whose married name is 
Marty Triantafillou) had a knack for mak-
ing every one of her students feel special. 
Whether finding them the perfect role in 
a school concert or encouraging them to 
step outside their comfort zone, she was a 
perennial favorite, with students singing her 
praises decades after being in her class.
Earlier this month, it was Ms. P’s turn to 
feel special. Around 50 of her former stu-
dents showed up for a sing-along reunion 
at the Huntington Woods Recreation 
Center. In addition to the large turnout, 
there were numerous requests for another 
reunion from those who couldn’t be there. 

Years after learning the words to songs 
like “Let There be Peace on Earth” and 
“Irish Eyes are Smiling,
” those who attended 
the reunion were transported back to their 
childhood through song and dance as their 
former music teacher spent almost an hour 
playing these and other familiar tunes on 
the piano.
Although Ms. P isn’t Jewish, many of her 
former students are. 
Jenny Bordelove, a 49-year-old fitness 
instructor from West Bloomfield and for-
mer Vandenberg student, said whenever she 

ran into someone she knew from elemen-
tary school, they would break out in one of 
the many songs they learned from Ms. P
. 
When Bordelove saw Nancy Goldstein’s 
pictures on Facebook from a lunch with 
Ms. P
, she reached out to Goldstein and the 
two women swapped stories about their 
favorite teacher. 
“I realized that everybody had the same 
fond memories, and it made me aware of 
just how remarkable she was and how she 
made such a difference in everyone’s child-
hood,
” Bordelove said. 
Goldstein, a 55-year-old elementa-
ry school teacher from Royal Oak and 
Northbrook graduate, credits Ms. P for her 
desire to pursue a career in education. 
During a subsequent lunch with 
Bordelove, Goldstein and Ms. P
, the former 
students presented the idea of a reunion to 
their beloved teacher. She told the women 
that another group of former students, 

including Jay Kaplan, approached her with 
the same request and connected them. 
Kaplan, a 62-year-old Oak Park resident 
and Northbrook graduate who stayed in 
touch with his former teacher, jokes that 
he’s finally allowed to call Ms. P by her first 
name. Now an ACLU attorney, Kaplan said 
he was a shy student who Ms. P brought out 
of his shell through music.
“Sometimes, when you’re a kid, you see 
someone through children’s eyes, and you 
idolize them,
” Kaplan said. “Sometimes it’s 
different as an adult because everybody is 
human. But, through adult eyes, she’s just as 
wonderful as she was through kids’ eyes.
”
Ms. P
, who retired from Southfield 
schools in 1990 when she moved to her 
current home in Saginaw, said the best part 
of the day was watching everyone fall back 
into their previous roles.
“They were the kids and I was the silly 
teacher, and they remembered all the songs 
and the motions to the dance that we did,
” 
she said. “Seeing their enthusiasm, how they 
all cared for each other, and how the two 
schools blended was something special.
” 

OUR COMMUNITY

About 50 former Southfield Public Schools 
students recognize their former music teacher.
Sing-Along Reunion

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

About 50 former 
students turned 
out to honor 
“Ms. P,” their 
childhood music 
teacher.

Tracey Edelstein, Marla Bednarsh, Marty Triantafillou 
(otherwise known as Ms. P) Julie Mison, Alisa Berke, 
Jenny Bordelove, Debbie Bletstein and Joy Alekman

