School Daze
It was September, 1963…
and I was about to enter my educational “Age of Enlightenment”.
By this time, I had already left my halcyon days at P.S.91 far in the rear-view mirror.
Gone was the innocence of big green kindergarten blocks, recess, book reports,
school plays, class trips, “white shirt-required” assembly, passing valentines in class…
and warm, nurturing, mother-ly teachers.
This was followed by my somewhat intimidating years at Creston Junior High.
We didn’t call is “middle-school” back then.
At Creston, along with most of my 91 buds,
I was surrounded by a bunch of new kids I didn’t know…
from different neighborhoods.
And now I was starting over, once again in the youngest grade…
and the 9th graders were big…and TOUGH!
Oh yeah, one more thing…
Creston was ALL BOYS!!!
BOO!!!
The girls I knew were several blocks away at Elizabeth Barret Browning Jr. High.
It was known as “E.B.B. – Everything But Boys”!
Creston definitely had a reputation as a “tough kids” school.
Some called it “The CrestonNostra!”
However, extremely luckily for me,
(as I’ve written before…I believe I am one of the luckiest people in the world)…
my “sentence” at Creston was reduced.
Somehow, despite my low grades, I was placed into the “SP’s”,
(“Special Progress Class”),
which meant, I would go from the 7th Grade directly into the 9th Grade,
skipping the entire 8th Grade.
ONE LESS YEAR OF SCHOOL!!! ONE LESS YEAR OF HOMEWORK!!!
What could be better?
While I continued with my solid C- grades…
over the years, I have been able to tell my kids that I never got less than an A…
in 8th grade!
But as my time at Creston was coming to an end…
it was time to move on to the “Major Leagues”… High School!
I was excited.
From what I saw on TV and movies,
the whole notion of High School seemed totally cool to me.
Varsity sports, Prom, Homecoming, School Jackets, lots of classroom flirting.
I was ready to join Archie and Betty and Veronica…
Except, soon reality set in.
My high school options were limited.
Other than parochial schools and trade schools…
I was destined to join my PS 91 and Creston crews and attend…
the infamous DeWitt Clinton High School.
While Clinton was known for having multiple celebrity graduates like…
Burt Lancaster,James Baldwin, Ralph Lauren, Neil Simon, Richard Rogers and more.
And an NBA-level basketball team,
Its reputation for toughness made Creston look like Romper Room…
And once again…
ALL BOYS!!! 6,000 OF ‘EM!
There was one other alternative for my future high school journey…
but it was out of my league.
NYC kids were eligible to take a super-competitive test
to get into one of three specialized NYC high schools:
Brooklyn Tech,
Stuyvesant,
And the number one rated academic high school in the entire country…
Knowing that both boys AND girls could take the test,
a bunch of friends and I figured…
Hey, let’s show up on “test Saturday” and maybe meet some girls.
So we took the #4 train up to 205th Street.
And a short two block walk away…there it was in all its glory…
A modern, sleek building across the street from the massive Harris Field
(being academically-oriented, Bronx Science had no sporting fields of its own).
At the school entrance was its striking, signature feature…
a giant mural hanging over the front lobby.
The 63-foot Venetian glass mosaic, titled “Humanities Protecting Biology, Physics, Chemistry,”,
featured artwork depicting great scientists that made significant breakthroughs in their respective fields, plus historical figures such as Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, and Isaac Newton.
The piece also presented a quote from philosopher John Dewey:
Whoa! That’s a lot for a stickball-playing, under-achieving, C- student to take on!
As the story goes…when the school first opened, the school administrators had a choice
as to whether to spend finances on a school swimming pool or a mural.
Cancel the Speedos…This is Bronx Science!
As I joined the other hopefuls nervously readying themselves for this potentially life-altering examination…
I was actually rather cool and calm, figuring it was just a couple of hours
and then maybe I could make some “connections” with the co-eds.
As I made my way to the testing room,
I was struck by how the hallways and classrooms were a whole lot more modern and attractive
than dear old Creston…
AND, for some reason, what I remember the most was…
their “blackboards” were in different colors!!!
During the test, my eyes wandered to the girls scattered throughout the classroom.
At least I’d have one co-ed fantasy day before DeWitt C.
Of course, for all my libidinous bravado, after the test…
this skinny, 13 year-old was afraid to speak to any of the ladies.
A few weeks later, back at Creston,
sitting in Mr. Colbert’s Algebra class, doing my best to pay attention….
Mr. C. said he had an announcement to make.
He took out a sheet of paper and informed us that he had a list of the handful of students
who impressively passed the specialized school test.
He proceeded to read off the 5 or 6 usual suspects…
the “class brains”.
With each name, the thrilled, nerdy “geniuses” celebrated with an awkward fist pump
or a stifled “YES!!”.
And then Mr. Colbert, stared at the list and said…
“And, you’re not gonna believe this…
Skollar!”.
My totally shocked buddies cheered.
Me? I was more shocked than any of them.
At first I thought it was a joke.
I asked Mr. Colbert…”Really?”
With a stunned smile, he answered…“That’s what it says.
When class was over, I ran the 6 blocks to my parents’ floor covering store.
I interrupted my Mom as she was helping a customer.
“Mom! I got into Science!!!
She forgot about the customer and gave me a big hug…
then she called my Dad over.
They told me how proud they were of me…
and then Mom added…
“That’s great…but y’know… you really shouldn’t go”.
“WHAT???, I responded
She explained…
“It’ll be too hard for you. I don’t want you to have to struggle”.
But I thought to myself….
the prestige, the girls, the orange chalkboards.
“I’m going!”.
Of course, my Mom was right.
I was NOT the classic Bronx Science type.
They loved school.
They read all the time…just for fun!?
They did hours and hours of nightly homework.
They hungered for “extra credit” assignments!?
Plus…all “my boys” would be at Clinton.
And, yes… I WOULD struggle.
But in September of 1963…
I walked by that mural…
with “…the audacity of imagination”.
And my Bronx Science life began.
Suddenly “school” was something entirely different.
The teachers at Science were the best of class,
with advanced degrees,
and having survived their own competition to be there.
The curriculum was packed with challenging AP content.
Math and science and history and language classes
were taught at a different level than anywhere else in the City…or country!
And there were class requirements that were unique to Bronx Science…
Like HDS (History & Development of Science),
STL (Science Techniques Lab),
And (the dreaded) MD (Mechanical Drawing).
And, yes…
there were GIRLS!
(Although to be honest…I had a total of ONE date with a “Science Girl”).
The alumni of Bronx Science included Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize recipients,
Fullbright and Westinghouse Scholars, countless scientists, engineers, researchers, authors, statesmen…
(Plus Bobby Darin!)
Me?
65 was passing grade…so, my goal: 65.
I struggled mightily.
But somehow I managed to pass every course challenge…
except for 10th Grade Math.
I was forced to go to Summer School at Taft High School.
(Tragically missing going to summer camp!!)
BUT…
I am proud to say that I NEVER cheated!...
although I had opportunities.
In Physics class,
(perhaps my most difficult challenge…Science AND Math!!),
I was seated between my two best Bronx Science buds:
Alan Tabacchi (my “sports friend”), and…
Steven Rappaport (my “hippie/music friend”…who introduced me to The Beatles).
They were good guys AND super-smart.
During our Physics Final,
they made the generous gesture of leaving their tests papers wide-open for me to see …
even nudging me to peek.
When I motioned that I was not going to give into temptation…
suddenly, our teacher, Mr. Kaye, yelled from the front of the classroom…
“Skollar! Eyes on your own paper!”
I was mortified…and ANGRY!
An unjust accusation of my sacrosanct moral code!!
OK, I did “cheat” once…
MD, Mechanical Drawing.
This was my nightmare.
The class required us to do weekly “drawings/blueprints/schematics” of machines, etc.
It was about precision, exact measurements and flawlessly neat presentation.
Yeah..NOT my strong suit.
I remember we were given all sorts of “tools” to do our drawings:
Rulers, protractors, compasses, slide rules, fine-point pens and pencils, erasers,
even chalk-bags to remove any fingerprints or errant marks.
(I used that chalk bag so much that my drawings looked like doilies).
Anyway, it was the end of the year,
and I had two days to complete my finished drawings.
Mission impossible!
But Rappaport stepped up.
Despite his shaggy long hair and hippie appearance…
Steve could execute perfectly neat drawings, almost free-hand!
He volunteered to do one of the drawings for me.
Desperate, I agreed. And he did his thing.
It was perfect. Too perfect.
I even added some smudges to make it believable .
BUT…
I was caught.
Mr. Kretchmer, our MD teacher confronted me.
When he held up “the Rappaport drawing” next to all of mine…
the jig was up.
They even called my Mom into school.
She attempted to defend me.
“One thing my son doesn’t do…is cheat!”
Then she checked out the evidence…
Oops.
I apologized, did my own (sloppy) drawing…
and somehow passed the course.
Even more of a “somehow”…
I would graduate!
But now it was time for the next chapter…COLLEGE!
At year end, Bronx Science published a list of all graduates and the college they would be attending…
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Stanford and the like.
Then, there were a few of us “misfits” who were listed as “Undecided”.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t made my decision…
it was that I hadn’t found any esteemed institute of higher learning that “decided” to admit me.
(And believe me… I applied to many, many, many schools!!!)
I attended our graduation ceremony at the legendary Loewe’s Paradise Theater,
without yet knowing where, or if, I would be going to college.
I did finally get accepted (during the Summer!) at 3 schools…
University of Oklahoma, Ohio Weslyan University and Oakland University.
I opted for Oakland, a new “experimental” school, promoting itself as
“The Little Harvard of the Midwest”…
but that’s for a future post.
As far as Bronx Science,
I will be eternally thankful and honored for the privilege and experience.
I made some good friends there.
And, in spite of myself…I learned a lot.
I only regret that I didn’t take full advantage of the truly extraordinary opportunities .
On my resume, I always make sure to highlight my Bronx Science background
before my college and graduate school accomplishments.
And I will always strive for the “…audacity of imagination” Bronx Science instilled in me.
Would love to hear about your high school memories
