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Thank you sooooo much. Thank you soooo much. Dr. Sperber, Skye Kramer, Kathleen Sheehy-Chan, and all the caring and generous people who are the Brookline Education Foundation, thank you! And thank you to all my family and friends who came here today…I love you!
This is like a funeral, only better. I’m not dead yet!
So I figured you would say complimentary things about me because, after all, you gave me an award! And I didn’t want to be overly modest or disingenuous. So I went online and googled, “accepting an award with grace, but not with a preponderance of humility.” This quotation appeared (most people think Nelson Mandela said this in his Inaugural Address but, actually, a woman named Marianne Williamson wrote this): “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking, so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do! It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
So, to honor the true brilliance, the Brobdingnagian talent, the great humor,and the colossal work ethic of the faculty, staff, students, and parents of Brookline High, I accept this award, as one of you.
So how did this happen to me? How did I get to this special moment? Teachers, mentors, and heroes! Teachers, mentors, and heroes matter! Beginning with my parents, my first teachers!
My dad…a smart (he would read books deep into the night), peaceful, generous (even though he had very little money, he would buy hot dogs for all the players on our little league baseball team he managed), and unconditionally loving man, who was a cheerleader for me…he introduced me to my first teachers and heroes…Adlai Stevenson, New York Times columnists Scotty Reston and Russell Baker, and President John Kennedy. He also took me to Ebbets Field, in Brooklyn, where we watched number 42 Jackie Robinson, #4 Duke Snider, #39 Roy Campanella, #45 Johnny Podres, #14 Gil Hodges, and #32 Sandy Koufax…(it’s amazing how I can remember all of these numbers from 50 years ago and I can’t remember what I did this morning!) And there was no subtle communication from my dad to me that Buzzy Bavasi, the Dodgers’ General Manager, was a courageous and heroic man because he brought Jackie Robinson to the Majors.
Above my desk at home is a picture of my dad, shaking hands with Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. My dad worked for the United States Department of Labor; he believed deeply in public service, and that government had an essential and fundamental role to make people’s lives better, and particularly those of us economically and socially at risk. I guess he had an influence on us; my brother Rich spent his work life as head of Homeless Services for the City of Boston, and my sister Ellen, currently a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, has been a public sector attorney for most of her life. It’s a genetic public service thing…our daughter Sarah served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador for three years and is a now a nurse at Children’s Hospital; and our son Dave is an English teacher at Newton South High School. It even rubbed off on Judy who manages the Boston Social Security office.
And my mom… When I was in high school and in the summer before I went off to college, I worked as an elevator operator and doorman at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. We lived in Queens; I worked the 4 – midnight shift, and I often worked Overtime. I had to take two subways and a bus, the Q16, to get home. Here’s the first stanza of a poem I wrote for my mom on her 80th birthday. It is called, “2 am at the Flushing IRT station”…
I climb the concrete steps
That lead from the subway
To Main Street.
I emerge from the station,
Glance up the dark street,
And I smile;
There she is
In the gray Buick Lesabre
It is 2 am at the Flushing IRT station;
Mom is there,
Alone,
To drive me home,
And save me from a sleepy ride on the Q16 bus.
That’s about the practice of love!
Teachers, mentors, and heroes matter!
Mrs. Ferris, my second grade teacher, in PS 30…I loved her, and she loved me back. Mrs. Aranow, my fourth grade teacher, in PS 209…she made us fold the yellow math paper into 16 squares, and then she fired the times tables at us…I know that 9 x 7 is 63! (I had two not good teachers in grades 5 and 6; that must be why I didn’t get into Tufts!) Sylvia Cole, my 11th grade English teacher…she convinced me that I was somebody, andI could write…that was a big epiphany for me.
Teachers, mentors, and heroes matter!
Colin Wilson…this weird British guy, with a wool Scollay cap, peered into and skulked into my college philosophy classroom, and then lectured us on how literature, philosophy, and life reflect a sad banality and dramatic under-use of our potential for happiness…he described the St. Neot experience – ask me about it later – and it changed my life. His book, Poetry and Mysticism, still resides on the night table next to my bed.
Bob Dylan…a poet from Hibbing, Minnesota, who took up residence in Greenwich Village, New York City…here’s Bob’s voice, from “Masters of War”…
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.
And, from “Only a Pawn in Their Game”
A South politician preaches to the poor white man,
‘You got more than the Blacks, don’t complain.
You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,’ they explain.
And the Negro’s name
Is used it is plain
For the politician’s gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain’t him to blame
He’s only a pawn in their game.
Teachers, Mentors, and Heroes Matter!
Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
English Professor James Frakes.
Norman Mailer…prolific and most talented writer, lousy boxer, and noisy public character…He and Jimmy Breslin ran for Mayor and City Council President of New York City promising, “We will go to Queens!” Hey, I’m from Queens!
Martin Luther King, Jr. … he really defined diversity…it’s not about the color of your skin; it’s about the content of your character!
Teachers, Mentors, and Heroes Matter!
Psychiatrist Robert Coles, who knows that children matter!
Professor Michael Sandel who knows that justice matters!
Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge, who know that hard work and teamwork matter! Theo Epstein and Terry Francona, who also know that!
George Viglirolo, Margaret Metzger, Debbie Quitt, James Cradle, Gretchen Underwood, Mike Frantz, Elaine Lombardi, Jim Smith, Steve Barrasso, Nancy Guttman, Nancy Howard, Osna Sens, Charlie Webb, Liz Kean, and so many more, who know a lot, and know how to work well with the kids.
Jim Walsh, who would sit me down, ask me to write out what new items or projects I had on my agenda…After thinking for a few seconds, I wrote down three new ideas. Jim would remind me about the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth ideas…and he would tell me to cross off six of the nine! He would also call me, or stop by, every afternoon at 5:30 or so, and ask how I was doing, and if there was anything he could do for me.
Teachers, Mentors, and Heroes Matter!
Blintzes and latkes,
Movies and Motown,
Jasper Johns and Treasury Bonds
Cape Cod Bay and Cane Garden Bay
Sarah and Dave, Edwin and Jessie,
Judy Bernstein matters!
So, after all these years, and all these experiences, and all my teachers, mentors, and heroes, what have I learned? I keep a folder at home entitled, “Wisdom and Humor.” It’s fat. What have I learned?
First of all, I grew up in a neighborhood where a number of my friend’s parents had blue numbers branded onto their forearms…reminders of the concentration camps…I went to a college whose fraternities and culture sanctioned racism and anti-Semitism…I lived in Birmingham, Alabama, saw the white and colored signs on public facilities; my house was broken into, and my books were burned on my lawn, by Klansmen. I have always felt personally vulnerable, and some sensitivity to the collective vulnerability of people who are defined by others, and made unsafe by others.
Perhaps my most profound understanding and commitment is that we are one big complex family; we are so much more alike, with similar needs and aspirations, than we are different…and every person must experience respect and dignity…people must be able to define themselves, and then feel safe living in this world as that person…Dr. King’s moral imperative, that we judge people on the content of their character is fundamental to that commitment. We have so much work to do to rise above ignorance, prejudice and tribalism. It is our most important work. And we have to continue that work in our homes, and in our schools.
I began teaching in a tough working class community in New Jersey. Upon showing up for the first day of school, my principal said to me, “Bob, you are in Room 202; your books are there; see you in June.” My first act as a teacher was to write, “Bob Weintraub” on the blackboard, sit on my desk, and wait for the first class. My first two students – George and Patrick -- walked into the classroom, saw me, saw my name on the board, came up to me and put their arms around me, saying, with some sarcastic enthusiasm, “Bob, how ya doin’?” (emphasis on the “Bob”) When the other students entered the room, George and Patrick introduced me, “This is Bob, guys!” Students said, “Hey, we got Bobby as our teacher…yeah!” My first move as a teacher; my first major mistake. (Mind you, this was no SWS!) That class tortured me throughout the year. I was smart enough to figure out that Bob Weintraub had to become Mr. Weintraub, as weird as that felt. The next class, under the leadership of Mr. Weintraub, was better, not good.
The lesson: adults need to be adults for our students! At Brookline High, that has emerged as one of our mantras, “A Unified Adult Voice in Support of our Kids.” Being adults with our kids matters!
In 1910, Brookline Superintendent of Schools George Aldrich said, “High school pupils are in their later teens…they are in the effervescent or yeasty period of their lives…a time full of great possibilities for good, but full, also, of perils.” the yeasty period of their lives…a time of agitation and ferment…true in 1910; still true in 2008! Holden Caulfield said it in another way…”The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.”
I love that Superintendent Aldrich acknowledged, in 1910, that the essence of teenage existence is agitation and ferment…it’s timeless…their agitation and ferment is often expressed as they push up against the adults in their lives, and the values that the adults hold and demonstrate…Teenagers are yeasty and, in our work with them, we have to accept this about them, embrace their human imperfection, and like good parents, be responsible adults…we have to hold them accountable for their behavior while maintaining our strong relationships with them, and continuing to offer them our unconditional positive regard, our love!…when they think it is a prank to slam doors around the school, we have to identify them, punish them, get them into a contrite condition, and get them back on track as responsible citizens of their school community…when they fight, or write graffiti on our walls, or set off a false fire alarm, all of which are rare around here, we have to be firm, punish them, get them into a contrite condition, and get them back here as responsible citizens of their school community…when they slack off, we have to restructure their lives so they can be more productive, more successful. Thomas Edison said, “If I were a school teacher, I would put lazy pupils to study bees and ants. They would soon learn to be diligent.” We haven’t done that yet but, schools should be about high academic and social/civic standards, and redemption! Redemption matters!
Edison also said, “As a cure for worrying, work is far better than whiskey. I always found that, if I began to worry, the best thing I could do was to focus upon something useful and then work very hard at it.” At Brookline High, another of our fundamental mantras is “Work Hard Over Time.” No BHS student has ever returned to us saying that they worked too hard at Brookline High.
To the contrary, thousands of BHS alumni have returned to thank us for preparing them well academically and socially for their next steps. HARD WORK OVER TIME matters!
And finally, the Sperber Award is about leadership. School principals live at the schoolhouse, but face great demands from agencies, organizations, and institutions beyond the schoolhouse. The United States Department of Education makes demands; the Massachusetts Department of Education makes demands; our accrediting agency, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), makes demands; the College Board makes demands; and a variety of interest groups – legitimate and credible people who are deeply interested in the health, safety, and well-being of our students, our community, and our planet -- make demands.
School principals must respond to all of these constituencies and audiences, but school principals can easily become distracted by all of these demands, and can easily become less focused on the fundamental mission of the school – the academic and social/civic development of every child! The academic and social/civic development of every child!
Wouldn’t it be refreshing if those who make demands on us would sometimes say to us, “You guys at the schoolhouse are doing the really fundamental and important work with our kids, every day!…How can we help you?” We all need to face the right audience! School leaders must help their communities face the right audience! The right teachers…that is the right audience!
So, let me be Eminem for a moment…if there are yeasty teenagers in the house, if there are high school students in the house, please stand up, please stand up…and, if their teachers are in the house, please stand up, please stand up…THIS IS THE RIGHT AUDIENCE…THIS IS THE HEART OF OUR ENTERPRISE…WE NEED TO FACE THE RIGHT AUDIENCE! PLEASE GIVE THEM THE ATTENTION, AND APPLAUSE THEY SO DESERVE!
THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR HONORING ME AS A MEMBER OF THE RIGHT AUDIENCE.
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Dr. Robert Weintraub’s Remarks Accepting the Sperber Award