Graham
D. Frey
Remarks Honoring Ms. Judy Dannehy
Winter 2001
I
have the privilege of knowing Judy Dannehy first as a student
and most recently as a colleague. After a difficult 7th grade
year…in fact, so difficult I keep Charlie Oberndorf's
comments in a drawer at home and read them whenever I need
some motivation…I had little confidence in anything and
I had developed serious doubts about my academic ability…
…In
8th grade, Ms. Dannehy opened a world to me that went beyond
grades, tests and papers. She introduced me to a literature
for literature's sake. I didn't really know what literature
was at the time…had I used a name like literature I wouldn't
liked it anyway…too stiff and schoolish…I read short
stories, Emerson, Thoreau and Shakespeare. For the first time,
I found myself reading stuff for school that I really liked…in
fact, I enjoyed. At the time, I didn't know how important
it was for a boy growing up in Cleveland to identify with
Emerson, Thoreau and other eastern literary figures. I didn't
learn how 'eastern' Cleveland was until I traveled South for
college. My college classmates, largely from Georgia, Alabama
and Virginia bragged of their prominent literary roots…of
Faulkner, Poe and Welty…I countered with Emerson and
passages from Thoreau…I had literary roots too and those
seeds were planted in 8th grade.
Every US boy remembers two things about 8th Grade English:
Shakespeare and the Speaking Contest. Ms. Dannehy seems to
have accomplished the impossible: successfully teaching Romeo
and Juliet to 8th grade boys. She brought the scenes alive
for us…we wanted to be Romeo, we wanted to woo Juliet…it
is perfect time to teach Romeo and Juliet and nobody did it
better.
Ms. Dannehy also taught us process. The idea of 'process'
doesn't have the grandeur literary giants…but learning
how to put a paragraph together…or the process of writing
a speech…built confidence. So much confidence that both
C.B. Pinkerton and I…two 14 year olds terrified of public
speaking…speak and lecture in front of groups everyday.
Ms. Dannehy, upon my return to US, Became Judy. At first I
was nervous to call my former teacher by her first name…the
though was uncomfortable…but after my first meeting with
my new mentor…I recalled the patience and solace of my
former English teacher….with a calm and placid manner,
Judy answered my incessant questions:
·
How do I teach them to write?
· How do I teach them to read?
· Will I be fair? How should I grade?
· They like reading for you…how do you get them
to like reading?
· Will I get to know the boys like you know them? How
do you remember all of that? Was I that bad?
When
Judy stopped in my classroom to explain that I created a connection
between English and Social Studies…teaching the boys
Aristotle and Plato, empiricism and rationalism, Aristotle
as a Naturalist, like Thoreau…I felt like a teacher.
She subtly gave my teaching some purposefulness.
On
behalf of the over 2000 students you have taught so well,
thank you and good luck.
"That
if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will
meet with success unexpected in common hours."
- Henry David Thoreau
Remarks
for Judy Dannehy
By Dan Fishwick, Middle School Coordinator
Twenty-six
years ago, Ms Dannehy and I came to University School to teach
English. Mr. Morgan was already here teaching 5th and 6th
grade English; Ms. Dannehy and I taught the 7th and 8th grades.
We've had a lot of students over the years, we've shared many
stories about them and read stories with them.
From
my earliest days of teaching, one of my favorite stories to
teach is about a boy named Homer McCaulay in a book called
The Human Comedy. Homer was an eighth grader who, like most
of you, sometimes got into trouble and like you was mostly
good and responsible.
One
day his history teacher, Miss Hicks, asked Homer and Hubert
Ackley III, a good athlete and one of the richest kids in
town, to stay after school for a detention. It was also the
day of an important track meet and both boys were on the team.
Just when the boys came to Miss Hicks' classroom the track
coach came in and said he had spoken to the principal and
Hubert Ackley was to be dismissed at once so he could get
his uniform on. Miss Hicks knew the coach was lying, just
as he had been lying since the days when he was one of Miss
Hicks' students. Sadly, she let Hubert go and that left only
Homer in the room. Miss Hicks had some things she wanted to
say to both boys, in fact, she liked them equally well. Here's
what she said. But, before I go on, let me say that I know
Ms. Dannehy could have said these things in far fewer words,
she's from Vermont, after all, where people waste neither
time nor words; but I believe the author got the idea right,
as if he knew our own Ms. Dannehy. Miss Hicks' words to Homer
have always reminded me of what is so good about working with
Ms. Dannehy.
"I
didn't keep you in to punish you, I have always kept in only
those who have meant the most to me.
I am eager for my boys and girls to exert themselves about
behaving with honor. What my children appear to be on the
surface is no matter to me. I am fooled neither by gracious
manners nor by bad manners. I am interested in what is truly
beneath each kind of manners. Whether one of my children is
rich or poor, brilliant or slow, genius or simple-minded,
is no matter to me, if there is humanity in him--if he has
a heart--if he loves truth and honor--if he respects both
his inferiors and his superiors. If the children of my classroom
are human, I do not want them to be alike in their manner
of being human. If they are not corrupt, it does not matter
to me how they differ from one another. I want each of my
children to be himself. I don't want you to be like somebody
else just to please me or to make my work easier. I would
soon be weary of a classroom full of perfect little ladies
and gentlemen. I want my children to be people--each one separate--each
one special--each one a pleasant and exciting variation of
all the others. I wanted Hubert Ackley here to listen to this
with you--to understand with you that if at the present you
do not like him and he does not like you, that is perfectly
natural. I wanted him to know that each of you will begin
to be truly human when, in spite of your natural dislike of
one another, you still respect one another. That is what it
means to be civilized--that is what we are to learn from a
study of ancient history. I'm glad I've spoken to you, rather
than to anyone else I know. When you leave this school--long
after you have forgotten me--I shall be watching for you in
the world."
Ms.
Dannehy is no fictional character: she has given real gifts
to thousands of very fortunate boys at University School over
many years I am grateful to have shared my career in teaching
with her.
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