Gigi Sachs Eisenberg
As some of you know, George performed at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, under the direction of his partner, Michael Penta (Who was the musical teacher at Irvington High School at the same time George worked at BBHS). It was a pleasure to see him acting and singing. The pure joy on his face made me understand why he decided to spend his life doing and teaching this.
Gigi Sachs Eisenberg
My mother reminded me today that prior to having BBHS, our community sent students to Valhalla, Mamaroneck and Port Chester high schools. It was the hard work and determination (many petitions and lobbying efforts later) of many of the parents in our community that was responsible for securing a grant from the Rockefeller foundation to build an experimental school, which would turn out to be BBHS. That led to hiring Dave Schein and the rest is history.....so thank you, parents!
Comments:
Lisa Sharkey
I recall that the reason our school had no walls was because while taxpayers voted to build the school, the voted for the least expensive plan which did
not come with walls. I too remember singing in teh stairwell and remember
the resonant glory of how we all sounded. We might have been powerless young teenagers but that vocal togetherness clearly left a resounding impression
on all of us for the rest of our lives.
Del Shortliffe
There were no walls for philosophical, not financial, reasons. The Open School movement was very hot at the time. Parents, or their representatives perhaps, went abroad to study the concept (to England? Australia?) and were convinced that an open floor plan was the way to go. Less separation of disciplines. More sharing of space and ideas. More spontaneous integration of students by age and interest and ability. Soon after Blind Brook was built, folks decided that complete wall-lessness was extreme, and the portable dividers -- walls on wheels -- went up. That's what I found when I arrived in September of '76. Eventually the built-in walls came, but the back wall was still just an open corridor. And the philosophy, at that point anyway, really worked. Teachers didn't hide from each other but shared materials, ideas, and sensibilities effortlessly, inevitably. You could be on your way somewhere, pass through the back of a heated discussion, pull up and chair and join in. It was wonderful. I teach in a traditional setting now. I miss the stream of people through the classroom.
Barry Eisenberg
it's funny, but I don't remember the noise as being a huge issue. Occasionally you'd hear a burst of noise from another space but for the most part it wasn't a problem. I find that really hard to imagine now. I do think it somehow kept us all together and connected in ways that I didn't even think about then at all.
Jenni Levy
No, the noise wasn't a big issue, and the cross-fertilization could be interesting. I remember taking one AP American History test while someone was showing a filmstrip next door on the same topic - the narration for the filmstrip covered at least three of the answers on our exam. I don't think Bill Mendelsohn enjoyed that as much as we did :-)
As some of you know, George performed at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, under the direction of his partner, Michael Penta (Who was the musical teacher at Irvington High School at the same time George worked at BBHS). It was a pleasure to see him acting and singing. The pure joy on his face made me understand why he decided to spend his life doing and teaching this.
Gigi Sachs Eisenberg
My mother reminded me today that prior to having BBHS, our community sent students to Valhalla, Mamaroneck and Port Chester high schools. It was the hard work and determination (many petitions and lobbying efforts later) of many of the parents in our community that was responsible for securing a grant from the Rockefeller foundation to build an experimental school, which would turn out to be BBHS. That led to hiring Dave Schein and the rest is history.....so thank you, parents!
Comments:
Lisa Sharkey
I recall that the reason our school had no walls was because while taxpayers voted to build the school, the voted for the least expensive plan which did
not come with walls. I too remember singing in teh stairwell and remember
the resonant glory of how we all sounded. We might have been powerless young teenagers but that vocal togetherness clearly left a resounding impression
on all of us for the rest of our lives.
Del Shortliffe
There were no walls for philosophical, not financial, reasons. The Open School movement was very hot at the time. Parents, or their representatives perhaps, went abroad to study the concept (to England? Australia?) and were convinced that an open floor plan was the way to go. Less separation of disciplines. More sharing of space and ideas. More spontaneous integration of students by age and interest and ability. Soon after Blind Brook was built, folks decided that complete wall-lessness was extreme, and the portable dividers -- walls on wheels -- went up. That's what I found when I arrived in September of '76. Eventually the built-in walls came, but the back wall was still just an open corridor. And the philosophy, at that point anyway, really worked. Teachers didn't hide from each other but shared materials, ideas, and sensibilities effortlessly, inevitably. You could be on your way somewhere, pass through the back of a heated discussion, pull up and chair and join in. It was wonderful. I teach in a traditional setting now. I miss the stream of people through the classroom.
Barry Eisenberg
it's funny, but I don't remember the noise as being a huge issue. Occasionally you'd hear a burst of noise from another space but for the most part it wasn't a problem. I find that really hard to imagine now. I do think it somehow kept us all together and connected in ways that I didn't even think about then at all.
Jenni Levy
No, the noise wasn't a big issue, and the cross-fertilization could be interesting. I remember taking one AP American History test while someone was showing a filmstrip next door on the same topic - the narration for the filmstrip covered at least three of the answers on our exam. I don't think Bill Mendelsohn enjoyed that as much as we did :-)
