My Mother Steps Up To The Plate
When I was a sophomore at Taylor Allderdice–it was 1965–a special program was planned for selected students. It was to be a combination of art and literature; Mrs. Wuchnick and Lloyd Welling would be teaching it; it would be the very first time that everyone would get an “A” as an experiment to reduce anxiety. This would be given over both semesters.
I wanted to get into this special program so badly; however you had to have a certain IQ and mine was one point below that.
I told my mother this and she didn’t think it was fair; she saw how upset I was. So she made an appointment with the school counselor and told her about me. In the end I was allowed to participate. Other than being involved with “A” choir and Mrs. Lewis, this was the best high school experience I’d had. And the proof of it is that I still remember most of what we did there. It became a part of me.
Mr. Welling introduced Dylan Thomas’ poetry to us and Mrs. Wuchnick encouraged us to make collages. We were given cameras and the best colored papers–called Color Aid paper–to work with. We worked in pairs which turned out to be beneficial. My partner was Andee Rubin and she told me years later that she had kept her portfolio of projects and materials. I’m sure that everyone who was fortunate enough to be there remembers our experiences.
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