Substitute teacher tells history firsthand
April 4th, 2007Neat story in today’s New York Times about Arnold Blume, an 81-year-old substitute teacher in Great Neck, N.Y.
In a school where the average age of the teachers is under 40, and the students’ grandparents include many of the baby-boomer cohort, Mr. Blume has emerged as a sort of older person in residence, an on-call doctor of memory.
He is the only person in the building, for instance, who remembers the shantytown Hooverville that once blanketed Riverside Park at 72nd Street. He talked about it the other day in Miss Mostrande’s eighth-grade social studies class.
He is the only one who had ever heard of, much less laid eyes on, a sign that said “No Jews, No Negroes, No Dogs Allowed.” He explained how that felt on another day in Ms. Andersen’s eighth-grade English class.
“older person in residence”
Every school should have one! Great story.
“I’ll do anything but gym” — Arnold Blume is my new hero!
: )
This is a great story, and I love that he takes his role as a substitute teacher seriously and uses it as an opportunity to teach. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can remember PLENTY of subs who did little else besides take attendance and give us a reading assignment when they were subbing. *YAWN*!