When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to be in our school plays and I received a role in the first production for which I auditioned. The play was Up the Down Staircase, a drama about an idealistic English teacher who finds that her preconceived notions of what it means to be an educator are going to be challenged, significantly, by forces beyond her control.
To say I had a crush on the senior who played Sylvia Barrett is something of an understatement. I adored everything about her but, of course, never told her that. She was so far out of my league we were not playing the same sport.
Perhaps it was my crush or her performance that made me really like Ms. Barrett, the uncompromising character she portrayed. Barrett was cool-headed, calm, righteous and made a terrific impact on her students (including Harry A. Kagan, the brown-noser I played – I had 3 lines).
As I look back on this play and I consider that I teach English and advocate for students and am happy to challenge things by going up the down staircase (and I note that I sign my name – formally – with my middle initial), I am aware of what an effect this experience had on me… Ms. Barrett, I am grateful.
We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!
