Dayle R. Ahrens, and her twin Gayle, were born in Hudson Falls in 1944 to Eunice and Roger Ryder, a WWII bomber pilot stationed in Luzon. However, in 1945, Roger and his older brother Jack, a pilot in the European theater were killed within two weeks of each other. Ten years later, Leonard Tarantino married Dayle and Gayle’s mother Eunice and, within six years, the house at four Main was bustling with their five younger brothers and sisters.
Despite those hectic teenage years, Mrs. Ahrens helped her mom with her siblings, AND graduated valedictorian of her 1961 Hudson Falls class. Then in her college senior year she was listed in the 1965 edition of Who’s Who Among College Students for writing and producing musicals for her classmates. After receiving her BA degree in English Education from The College of Saint Rose, Dayle was selected as one of five women to enter the pioneer graduate program of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, earning an MS degree in 1967.
After marrying Roger Ahrens in 1967 which produced four children in six years, Dayle’s career path switched from television news reporter to teacher. From 1979 to 2003, she taught English at her alma mater for the youth at risk as well as the college bound student, grades 7-12. In the 80’s she and Courtney Walsh established the 9-12 English AP program. Countless students herald that program as the one most useful in teaching them how to think, read, write, and discuss on a college level.
A pivotal moment in her career happened during 6 months in 1995 over the book issue. Confronted by this adversity, Mrs. Ahrens, supported by Superintendent John Zeis, successfully defended a selection of literary classics from being eliminated from the AP curriculum, setting a precedent that has benefited students even beyond Hudson Falls.
This July 8th marks Mrs. Ahrens’ 50th wedding anniversary to her husband Roger – 4 term HF school board member and 4 years Tiger Trackers president. More recently, in 2010, Dayle and Roger have continued to show their allegiance to Hudson Falls youth by establishing in their son’s honor (Michael ’86) The “Big Mike” Memorial Award given annually to a graduating boy and girl scholar-athlete.