In September of 1965, The South Western Bronx was not considered, by anyone, to be a clone of The Garden of Eden, To this then 10 year old boy, The neighborhood he lived in seemed most terrifying, perilous and intimidating .Sadly, The small 4th Floor Apartment he lived in - Apartment 19 of 615 East 189th Street appeared -to this sensitive boy- far more of a terror zone than anything on the streets could possibly be.
This child, an articulate, creative , imaginative and curious boy, seemed to sense that others viewed him as simply and purely wrong! He spoke too often and about anything and everything, this led his father to scold him and at times insult him, telling him that, " No one wants to listen to you. Only women speak all the time. Only stupid women speak all the time!." To conform with standards of decency, The father's language has been cleaned up a good bit. The father would also often tell him, " Boys know how to be quiet! Don't you know how to be a boy?"
This then Ten year old boy's mother nursed grudges and never let anyone anyone forget about any and every wrong that had EVER been visited upon her. She did not give birth until she was 37. This seemed to be a hideous crime as she, in her mind, believed that she was too old to be a first time mother.She made sure that this ten year old knew about how he, by his very birth, had failed her. She often reminded him that, " I waited too long for you to be my first born" ," I needed you to be better than you are!"
The boy's parents were often scolding, condemning and microscopically critical. Sadly, These parents also expressed their displeasure and extreme lack of acceptance of him by resorting often and generously to physical "punishment". The boy was struck with slaps and fists. His hair was pulled. He was thrown into walls. He had a magnifying glass thrown at his head. He was struck in the back with a broom. He once had his
left shin struck with his own baseball bat. He cried and screamed and protested. This was cited to him as further evidence that he was simply "wrong". He failed, after all to respond, to "punishment" as a real boy should. Perhaps that is why he identified with Pinocchio, who also wanted to be accepted as a " real boy"!!!!
He attended an old-fashioned Catholic School which highly favored physical punishment to instill life-long
discipline and to "craft the soul". This boy found himself bullied and intimidated by other students at school and by the other kids in the neighborhood. He once noted that ," Our teachers took attendance at Church and took careful note of any misbehavior we engaged in. We were paddled the next day for not knowing how to act before God." This led him to believe that he was not safe at home, in the neighborhood, at school or at church.
In 1964, As a Fourth Grader, He was first introduced to his first love- History! Wow, History seemed to be a subject invented for him. Suddenly, He was being taught something that seemed to begin to answer his endless who, what, when, where, why and how questions. He suddenly felt empowered to excel--- to show his intelligence, spirit and pluck! On Promotion Day, The Last Day of the 1964-1965 School Year, He won the History Award, Suddenly, This boy felt loved, valued and important.
When September of 1965 arrived, He started 5th Grade! Empowered from last year's new discovery, The boy boldly showed off in his first 5th Grade History class. He not only answered questions, but, with a nervous smile, went on to further explained his answers .The boy did not notice the pleased smile on his teacher- Brother William D'Mato's face.
On Wednesday of the Second Week of that school year, Brother William called the boy up. He held his right hand out, expecting it would be slapped by a pointer or a ruler. His teacher quickly reassured him that he was not in any trouble. The teacher praised his love of history and then handed him a copy of the Teacher's Edition of the History Book. It was clear to the boy what a great honor this was. He was told that he could borrow it. The boy carefully brought it home as if he'd been given a book of gold. He sat in his room and carefully read each page. It amazed him to get to see the notes provided to the teachers explaining how and why they were being advised to teach history in the manner the book put forward. He started to see, for the first time, that learning could be fun and rewarding!
In that same month of September, 1965, A new TV Program debuted on CBS- Channel Two- in New York. On Wednesday, September 15th, at 7:30 PM, Lost In Space debuted. This is a program that now seems silly to most of us! We tie the phrases " Danger, Will Robinson" and "Warning, Warning" as chestnuts that came from this program.The pilot episode focused on a family planning to take a 5 and a half year journey to Alpha Centauri, to colonize a planet. The boy loved the Space Program and the Robinson Family, Major West and The Robot quickly became heroes to him.
The ship becomes Lost in Space due to the sabotage of Dr. Zachary Smith , who was trapped on board the ship, The Jupiter 2, at launch.. The boy fixated on the youngest member of the family Will ( William) Robinson, The Second William of this tale! Will Robinson was played excellently, in the boy's opinion, by Billy Mumy. Will struck a cord with the boy! Here was a boy in constant peril, a boy that could face hideous dangers at any time. His creativity, intuitive cleverness and outspokenness were valued by his family, He was loved and praised because of those personality traits. This was a powerful education for this boy, He was not wrong, he was not flawed because he acted according to who he was.It actually began to dawn on him that any educated, aware and thoughtful person would quickly and fully appreciate this. Suddenly, Being smart and wanting to learn more and more were things that could be praised and found worthy of honoring . This was a powerful and transformative educational moment for him.
I am now 55 nearly 56! I have taught in private and public schools and served as an instructor and a coordinator for a home-schooled association.I now see that the Two Williams helped to embolden my spirit and see that it was possible to seek out a hope and a future. One of the greatest values of education is to foster and nurture a love for learning in each child that is being educated. Learning becomes a passion once a child sees that education is about them and for them, that it is a gift that they should earnestly long for and covet!
It seems to me, as I reflect back on what occurred 45 years ago, that a Kind God provided a vision that made it possible for a battered and shattered boy to dream of possibilities and potential. I spent FAR too many years trying to pretend that either- my child hood never happened , that it was NOT as bad as I thought it was or that I could shrug it off and move on. Sadly, This was not true and I played a major price for trying to avoid and hide from what I needed to confront squarely and deal with fully.
Yet, The news tells me that there are a lot of "lost ,endangered and disregarded" boys and girls who many want to write off as hopeless and toss on the educational "discard pile". Yet, I wonder what happens when a teacher looks for a spark, searches for and seeks a sign of hope or potential, even if that sign seems extremely faint and difficult to detect and decides to work to nurture the desire and hope that they encounter.
Perhaps educational miracles start with a few brief words . " I believe, I seek, I notice and I invest" motivating the best angels within the spirit and soul of a dedicated educator. William D'Mato was exactly such an educator. Billy Mumy, in the dramatis personae of Will Robinson, became such an educator and teacher to me! Two Williams made a difference in my life. Perhaps in the battle to truly LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND more Williams will show up at the most critical moment they are needed! Looking for the spark that will cause each and every child to hunger and thitst after education and knowledge may provide to us a future far greater than any that most of us can PRESENTLY imagine!!!!
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