Page 9 - PINE CREST 2005

1. How long have you taught at Pine Crest and why are you leaving now? Does trying to
instill ethics in thosecrazy freshmen year after year just take it out of you?
I first substituted in 77, had a part-time assignment for following year, and by 79 I was full-time. I'm
leaving now because I m ...of retirement a ge ... and decided it was okay to do that. I gave myself
permission. And about the freshman, no not at all— it's a wonderful challenge.
2. What are you going to do with all of your newfound time?
I dont think that I will have much free time. I'll assist my son in his new business, I'm going to do some
educational consulting, Im going to travel, and I'm going to play in my garden... and walk the beach!
That sounds ideal.
(smiles) Tis the truth.
3. What are you going to miss most about PC?
Oh, kids kids kids kids. They have kept me young. They've given me gray hairs, but they've kept me
young.
4. Oh, your hair is so short anyway; it hardly makes a difference. What are you going to miss
the least?
(leans forward mischievously) I'm not going to say.
5. Speaking of things w ere not supposed to say...you sponsor Youth Against AIDS, the most
taboo club around. Does that reflect your personality? (The "taboo" part, not the AIDS).
I wouldn't call it taboo., it's certainly controversial. We try to say it like it is in sex education, and
sometimes we hit road blocks. Sometimes the school is afraid to let us be as straightforward as we think
we need to be to protect kids.
6. You're quite the Renaissance woman... in addition to sponsoring YAA, you also have ethics,
developmental psychology, and art history, AP and honors, all under your belt. If you were
a Renaissance painting, who would you have paint you, and why?
I think I would like Botticelli to paint my portrait. His work was a wonderfully intelligent combination of
line, color, and superior composition. He blended these three factors seamlessly into his artwork, and I've
spent my whole teaching career trying to coordinate three major subjects. I wanted my career to emulate
his masterpieces.. .and some days it felt like I got it right.
7. They say art history AP is the hardest class PC offers, and if personal experience counts for
anything, I second that. I spend more hours reading art hist than I do sleeping, and I'm
naming my firstborn child Parthenon if it's a boy, Pantheon of it's a girl. So how does it feel
to teach a class with that kind of reputation?
I'm truly honored that kids, that this community, sees this class as akin to a college level course. It's what
I had in mind when I started teaching it in '79, even though it didn't become an AP for ten years. And
each year there have been a dozen or more brave souls who've allowed the tradition to continue. I
would hope that students always want to take classes that fascinate them even if they have a reputation
for being tough.
8. Eh, they just take it for the New York trip at the end of the year. M r. Harrington, your
partner-in-crime, always goes on the trip, too, doesn't he? What IS he going to do without you?
M r. Harrington and I had a chance to meet one summer day years ago in Washington DC. We
went to the museum, and he said, “Wow, you know a lot about art, you should take the kids to New York."
And I said, "Wow, and you know a lot about theatre. We should take the kids to see Broadway!" And
out of that fun day grew the idea of the New York trip. He's been a loyal and interested friend to me
and a great assistant to that trip since it's inception. He may not cry over me, but he's definitely going to
cry over not getting to see the Whitney Biannual [a modern art show], his favorite exhibit.
9. And one last time...what do they say about "assume"?
They say DON'T! And you all know why....it makes for lots of mistakes.
It makes an "(expletive)" out of "u" and "me.