SeaBiscuit / Cynthia Conde (Personal Trainer )

Jenny was of my favorite clients.  She came to my office at Gold's Gym in Astoria one day three years ago wanting to get in shape. Jenny's dream was to get in the best shape of her life because she wanted to be a performer. Jenny's  passion was singing.

Jenny had it all figured out. She defined her goals and set out to meet them. Jenny was going to lose weight, get really toned, cut a demo, and start shopping her music around to people in the business and someday marry Art.
 
She was focused and very determined. But, she had one major barrier, food.  I never meet a client that had such a relationship with food before. It was her friend and her enemy. We would make such amazing progress with her diet and her training. Jenny would be focused and pursue all of her goals simultaneous. Then, as if she was trying to self sabotage herself, she would hit a wall and our weight loss progress would stop.

Yet, she persevered. She would fall off the food wagon so to speak and get back on, again, and again, and again.  She was so determined in everything she did, and she never gave up hope.

When she would come in for her weekly weigh-ins and the scale went up not down, I would say to her "don't worry Jenny, you are like the horse in the movie SeaBiscuit, your the underdog now but someday you will cross the finish line first". She would laugh so hard.

Then she started getting sick last November.  She canceled many sessions or walked out in a middle of one.  She said her fingers were cold and she felt tired. Jenny always made every effort to see me every week, even on the days that she wasn't in the mood to workout. Sometimes we would sit in my offices for hours laughing and talking.

So, when she started canceling sessions on me I thought that Jenny wasn't in the mood to workout, and I would give her a hard time because of it. I was like, "Jen stop being lazy". Had I only known the truth.

I think that Jenny knew about her disease before she left on vacation. But, that was Jenny's way, she never liked people to worry about her and she didn't want to ever put her life on hold. These are the reason's why I refer to Jenny as my SeaBiscuit.

She will always be my SeaBiscuit.

http://www.goldsgym.com/gymsites/us/ny/astoria/index.php?iSiteID=91

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Staff of PS 122, Queens NY  / Ann Marie Capalija

On August 27, 2005, Ms. Jenny Nacinovic, a valued member of the P.S. 122 community, was lost to us.

 

In the two years she worked as our vocal music teacher, Jenny had a profound impact on the school climate. Affectionate cries of "Ms. N! Ms. N!" echoing through the halls were evidence of the rapport Jenny had with students in both the general and middle school. Model students and struggling stu­dents alike were moved by her passion for music and her belief in the need for discipline and self ­respect in order to achieve success. Jenny held her students to high standards, with impressive re­sults. Her work with the "Music and the Brain" program gave our youngest students exposure to the fundamentals of music through keyboarding, while many older students learned and grew with her through their participation in Chorus. Anyone who ever attended one of Jenny's performances could see right away that she was a true professional. She constantly worked to foster exemplary behavior and emotional maturity in the young performers she led, whether they were Chorus members or Fifth and Eighth grade graduating classes. Jenny thrived on selecting diverse musical pieces that shared a common theme, thereby broadening the horizons of both her audiences and her singers.

 
A noteworthy example of Jenny's pro­fessional integrity and sensitivity to the needs of those around her was her moving arrangement of "True Colors" in honor of Audrey and Sander Harden, which served as a catalyst for healing for the school community.

 

In addition to her work at our school, Jenny was a musician in her own right. She was an accomplished pi­anist who gave private instruction before beginning her teaching career. Jenny also had a beautiful singing voice and had recorded some of her own original music. She had plans to compose and arrange a children's al­bum in the future.

 

Although her professional accomplishments are impressive, they don't tell the whole story of Jenny's impact on P.S. 122. In just three years of teaching at our school, she reached out to both new and vet­eran staff members. Her friendliness and mirthful smile could always put her colleagues at ease, and she could often be heard telling little anecdotes that made people smile. Jenny was a generous spirit, the kind of person who was always willing to extend to both close friends and new acquaintances alike her time, her shoulder to lean on, or a ride home. Jenny's personality had a positive influence on everyone around her which will be missed for a long time to come.

 

Ms. Jenny Nacinovic is survived by her parents, her sister and brother-in-law, her partner Art, and her best friend Jeannie.

 

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You Music Lives In Our Hearts  / Ariadne Colon

Years back, it was the start of another Parent Teacher Conference day and I was climbing the stairs to begin meeting with my son Raphael's teachers. As I stopped to catch my breath, I leaned against the banister to let a group that was behind me, go by. As they passed by, I no­ticed that one of them was happily chirping away at a verbal speed of 130mph with a gaggle of other kids that were giggling around her. I also noticed the Mary Jane shoes on her feet which I thought were so charmingly retro. Naturally, I assumed this girl was an eighth grader. Later that day, just as the bell rang indicating the end of the Parent Teacher Conference session, I ar­rived outside the music room too late to go in and meet with the teacher, whom I had never met. Knowing that by now teachers were tired and anxious to leave after a long day of meeting par­ents, I didn't bother to try and talk my way into convincing the music teacher to meet with just one more. Assistant Principals were already making the rounds shooing out parents, and as I turned to walk away, the eighth grade girl I saw earlier with the retro shoes suddenly poked her head out of the music room, looked and made sure that the coast was clear of any adult author­ity figures, "psst'ed" me over, frantically waved me in, then winked as I walked in and she shut her door. That's how I met my son's music teacher, Jenny Nacinovic.

Jenny Nacinovic was one of those rare teachers that not only loved children but truly and genuinely liked them. An accomplished musician own right, she was a pixie-like figure constantly in frenetic motion, bubbly and full of passion. She made her music class fun for her students. "Miss N' remembered what it was like to be their age and used that knowledge as a passport into their world, their minds and hearts.               

There may have been those that didn't fully understand her brand of teaching but what mattered to her was that her students were being taught in a creative and nurturing environment.  As a PTA parent in the school, stopping by her classroom to visit was always a treat for me. I would walk by and see 7th or 8th grade boys unselfconsciously throw their arm around her shoulders as they walked with her to the door at the end of the period. I would see girls, who felt like she was a big sister, confide and giggle with her around her desk.  I used to gently make fun of her alleged chorus auditions because if you were a student and you wanted to try out, she was not going to turn you  away so long as you truly and passionately  wanted to sing. Talent, or lack of, was not necessarily a deterrent. As a result, we had an enor­mous chorus group. Yet, despite the overwhelming number of students she had a gift for pulling it all together and bringing out the best in them. 1 I remember walking into her classroom one day and hearing what can only be best described as chaos set to music. Percussionists, keyboard players, and vocalists. Each of them going at it full throttle with gleeful abandon simultaneously.  I felt like I had arrived just in time to rescue her from what was surely some sort of coup attempt. When I looked at her, speechless, with my mouth agape she looked back at me with a huge face splitting grin and squealed "I know!! Isn't this great.?!" I thought she had lost control and maybe even some of her mind but I was wrong. When it came time for those children to be up on that stage and perform during our annual con­certs, there wasn't anything chaotic or disorganized about what transpired. There they were, a vision of order and symmetry singing so beauti­fully, in perfect harmony, with Miss N conduct­ing, firmly in control

During her funeral, as I sat and listened to her favorite Sarah McLachlan song play in the church, I was struck by how at only 35 years of age Jenny Nacinovic had every gift but length of years. Some of her former students were in the church that day crying during the service and I was reminded how sadly, this is the second year in a row PS 122 has had to deal with the loss of an exceptional and beloved teacher. There is an Irish saying that says death leaves a heartache no one can heal but love leaves a memory no one can steal. As we bid her farewell, we who knew Jenny Nacinovic and loved her, will always remember her.

Submitted by: Ariadne Colon, Parent

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Goodbye Jenny  / Maura Glikas (Friend)

Dearest Jenny,

Last time we spoke was when you called me to help me with information I needed, as a matter of fact you were always so attentive to everyone's needs and always a good friend to me.

You made me feel at ease and always went out of your way to take me home, did I thank you enough? did I tell you how sweet you were?

The shock of your passing has left me speechless, since I did not have a chance to say goodbye I am hoping that wherever you are you can read this message and know that I will pray for you and your family, and I will always keep the memory of you in my heart as a wonderful and sweet young woman who made me laugh and had music in her heart.

God bless you Jenny
Your friend always Maura

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