Interviews with M-T Staff and Students
(Recorded in February 1983)
~ Introductory Text by John Sherin ~
This was to be the first of two final years of M-T in Brentwood. What had been the ground-breaking Maslow-Toffler School of Futuristic Education was now Maslow Toffler, an alternative program moved to a corner of the regular high school, at the direction of the principal. Nine previous years of its existence saw gradual structural changes occur in order to secure its survival for the sake of the community it served. "Back to basics" was now the order of the day. Appearances by Board President Anthony F. Felicio, Guidance Counselor Chico Frankel, Facilitators Bob Primavera and Grace DiRiggi, and a committed group of students here reflect the qualities that survived and changes that had occurred over the decade.
Audrey Townsend introduces Grace DiRiggi and Bob Primavera, staff members, and Dawn Johnson, student, in a wide ranging discussion of the “4 R’s” and M-T’s learning community. They talk about art, differentiation of instruction, work study, attendance, student evaluations, peer teaching, co-facilitation and confrontation. Bob shares how Syracuse University Project Advance offers college credit for students who pass exams and acknowledges M-T as the home of an inclusive Explorer Post of the Boy Scouts of America. He expounds on the continued growth in the Brentwood School District of his Children’s Readers Theater, borrowed initially from Hofstra University by IMC Coordinator Hank Salerno.